


Blood Is Thicker

by robogreaser



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Amnesia, Ashen Romance | Auspistice, Caliginous Romance | Kismesis, Memory Loss, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pale Romance | Moirallegiance, Post-Sburb/Sgrub, Sexual Content
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-10-18
Updated: 2015-05-03
Packaged: 2017-12-29 19:09:05
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 29
Words: 35,815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1008998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/robogreaser/pseuds/robogreaser
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The game was finally won, but as a stipulation, everyone has lost memories of their respective world and lives. No quadrants, no hemospectrum, no ancestors, no game. The three Vantas boys wake up, dazed, in a dark cave with no idea how they got there or why they share the same last name. </p>
<p>Now they're on a mission to retrieve their memories.</p>
<p>(Updates on Saturdays)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Awaken in the Dark

Every inch of his body hurt.

The world around him was dark and dank and smelled of mold. His eyes adjusted to the low light and he saw them. The two little bodies heaped among the rocks stirred something in his gut.

He had to protect them. But from what? The dark? It was preposterous to think such things.

The Signless jumped up.

He stumbled over to the two young trolls to check if they were alive. He didn’t know why he cared or why he had such a strong reaction to them, but he did. The Signless realized it was darker than he cared for. This cave wasn’t just any ordinary dark, it was advanced dark. The little light from the distant entrance cast the two little trolls in shadow.

The Signless held his breath as he checked for a pulse.

The two younger trolls were alive, but unconscious. The Signless heaved sigh of relief and unfastened the clasp to his cloak. He tossed it over the two kids and looked around. They were in a cave, a very dark cave. An advanced darkness kind of cave. He had already established that. Moving on. There was an entrance several dozen yards to his right but the daylight didn’t reach him. He had also already established that.

“What’s going on?” he murmured to himself as he looked around. “Where the hell am I?”

There was a groaning from under his cloak. “What the shit is going on?” one of the trolls murmured as he fought his way out from underneath the cloth. “Where the fuck am I?”

“You’re awake,” the Signless said. He stepped over to the groggy, cussing troll and offered him a hand up.

“No shit I’m awake,” the young troll grumbled. “Where the hell am I, and who the hell are you?”

“I have no idea where we are, but my name is… they called me the Signless for most of my life. I think. I don’t really recall that much.” The Signless rubbed his temples as the young troll straightened himself out.

“I’m Karkat. And who’s this?” he asked, pointing at the lump on the ground. The lump groaned.

“I don’t know,” the Signless admitted. “Let’s wake him and find out.”

“Might as well,” Karat said as he tapped at the mound with his foot. The troll jumped.

“Who’s there!” he shouted, groggy and unaware of his situation. “Who kicked me?”

“Karkat Vantas, you’re new supreme God of all living creatures, bow to me,” Karkat sneered as the troll fought his way out from underneath the Signless’s cloak.

“You’re about as much of a God to me as this confounded rag. As in, I highly doubt such an occurrence is truthful or sincere. And for lying to me in spite of my bodily pains, lack of clarity and the fact that I am at your total mercy, I’m going to kick your ass,” the troll burst from the cloak and lunged at Karkat.

“Whoa there you chute licking fuck!” Karkat yelped as his attacker fell into him. “Get off of me or so help me, I’ll run you through with the nearest sharp rock. And that’s a promise,” Karkat yelled.

“ENOUGH!” the Signless roared. He ripped the two younger trolls away from one another. “We have no idea what’s transpiring as of this moment and you two cannot afford to get into a brawl now,” he said, throwing the two of them to the ground.

Karkat hit the rocks with a dull thud. “What’s your name anyway, you angry sack of shit?” he asked.

“My name is Kankri Vantas and if anyone among us is an angry sack of shit, it’d be you… what’s your name?” Kankri asked. Neither of the younger trolls noticed the adult purse his lips and go wide eyed.

“Karkat Vantas,” Karkat replied with a mumble. The two younger trolls looked at one another in silence. “Are we related?” Karkat asked.

“I… don’t actually know. I don’t recall anything from before I woke up here. Maybe we are,” Kankri replied. The two younger trolls spun to look at the Signless.

“What are you looking at me for?” the Signless asked, taking a half step back.

“What did you say your name was?” Kankri asked him.

“I’m the Signless,” the Signless reminded Karkat. He stepped forward to retrieve his cloak from the ground at Kankri’s feet.

“What kind of stupid name is that?” Kankri spat. “Don’t you possess a last name? Something to identify yourself with that’s a little more poignant than Signless?”

“Yes…” the Signless mumbled as he dug around in his foggy head. “I don’t remember much. I…”

“How damned useless and unbelievable. You’re the adult. Aren’t adults supposed to be the responsible, reliable ones? Of course not. How could we expect anything from someone as insufferable as to call himself Signless,” Kankri rambled. Both Karkat and the Signless rolled their eyes as he went on for another minute.

“Enough,” Karkat interrupted. “I want to know why I can’t remember anything and you going off like the little shit you are isn’t helping,” he said, pointing at Kankri. “First of all, why the hell are we standing around in a dark and dingy cave where we can’t even see the hands in front of our faces. Let go to where there’s at least enough light so I can figure out how damned ugly a person with your personality is,” Karkat said with a chuckle.

Kankri was seething. “Well _if_ we are related, you putrid little fuck, I’m sure as hell that however ugly I am, you’re personal gene pool is filled with a gaggle of ugly sticks,” he spat.

“Oh spare me you primadonna,” Karkat said. The two of them descended into bickering once more. The Signless rubbed the bridge of his nose for a second before stepping forward and pushing the two of them apart.

“Now, now children, you’re both pretty little ballerinas, now can you shut the fuck up and get a move on?” The Signless said as he pushed past the two younger trolls and paced toward the cave’s distant entrance. Kankri and Karkat followed in silence.


	2. It's Called A Sunburn

Sunlight hurts. Or, more correctly, sunlight is a pain in the ass. Karkat and Kankri hissed in unison as the bright light of a noon day sun beat down on their silver skin. The Signless, under his cloak, scoffed at their childishness.

“Get a grip you two, it isn’t that bad,” he said, strolling out of the cave and onto a rocky hillside.

“Easy for you to say asshole! You’ve got a long, billowing cloak of protection. We’re here frying to a crisp!” Karkat shouted, receding back into the cave, Kankri on his arm. They both scowled at each other but agreed: Signless had no room to talk.

“Oh good God you kids are going be the death of me,” Signless muttered, trudging back into the cave and tossing his cloak over the two of them. “Come on now, let’s go get an idea of where we are,” he said, trudging back into the sunlight.

Unlike the two steel-grey kids, Signless was older and, as such, darker. He was almost charcoal skinned, like a tarnished nickel. After years of being awake during the day and travelling under the sun, he had tanned. Why he was travelling by day was still a mystery to him. The two kids stared at his bare grey shoulders.

“What kind of stupid pair of pants are those?” Kankri sneered, looking at the Signless. His sleeveless—no—topless jumpsuit was a surprise to the two younger Vantases.

“Pants. That’s it. They’re pants. What’s wrong with my pants?” Signless asked.

Kankri snickered. “You look like an idiot,”

“Oh lay off him!” Karkat snapped, yanking the cloak away from Kankri. “At least he’s not wearing some oversized red turtleneck. Like a nerd,”

“Says the twerp in a long sleeved black t-shirt when I’m pretty sure it’s 90 degrees out…” Kankri scoffed. Karkat punched him in the arm. Kankri squealed, took a step back, and rebounded, swinging toward Karkat. The back of his hand thirsted for some contact but Signless stepped in.

“Stop!” he barked.  “We are not going to start killing each other. We have no idea where we are or how we got here or… much of anything. We do not need you two acting like a pair of petulant little brats,” he said, pushing the two of them apart.

“Get your grubby paws out of my face!” Karkat spat, slapping away the Signless’s hand.

“What he said!” Kankri whined.

“If you two decide to act like civilized twerps instead of little fuckers, you won’t have to deal with it again. Now come on, let’s get a move on,” Signless said, turning and trudging down the gravely hillside.

Karkat and Kakri fought for a second over the cloak and who’d get to use it before Signless turned and glared at them. He stayed silent, but a slight scowl scared the two younger Vantases into line. They sneered at each other and decided to share, following a few yards behind Signless as they left the cave.

Wherever they were—and they had no idea where that was—it was hot, and dry, and rocky. Signless trudged ahead of the other two and made it to the foot of the gravelly hillside. He peered westward, where the sun was making its course, and noticed a small stream.

“We’ll follow water. That’s basic survival instinct. Wherever that goes there is bound to be life, which means food and maybe other people,” Signless said, turning to his travelling companions.

The other two were tangled in the cloak and pushing each other, too preoccupied to listen. Karkat tripped and spilled down the last two feet of hillside. He cussed and spluttered and yelled at Kankri as the sunlight hit his skin. Karkat hissed.

“This is stupid! This is so fucking stupid! I have no idea why I’m following you anywhere after you trapped the three of us in this hellish sun with nowhere to go. You’re a damned fool Signless. A fool!” Karkat shouted, dusting himself off and checking his scuffed palms.

“You two are going to be the death of me. Now shut up. We’ll get down to that stream and I’ll clean you up. Now come on, it’s not that much further,” Signless said, offering a Karkat a hand up. Karkat frowned and took the help reluctantly, his hands starting to bleed.

“Look at what the wee little troll did to himself now,” Kankri mocked from underneath the cloak. “He tripped and had a boo boo and now he’s—”

Karkat kicked him in the shin. Hard. Signless yanked Karkat away and groaned as Kankri started to cuss and whine and pout.

“I’ve had it up to here with you brats. Either you behave or I’m going to take my cloak back and let you two burn in the sun. Do you understand?!” Signless barked.

“I’m not sharing this cloak,” Kankri said in a very no-nonsense tone.

“Fine. Give it to me then!” Karkat shouted.

“Shut it! Both of you!” Signless said, pinching the bridge of his nose and looking down. “Kankri, keep the cloak you petulant little fuck. Karkat, come here,”  Signless said, beckoning  Karkat closer to him. “Put your hands in your sleeves and walk in my shadow.”

“What? That’s ridiculous. And stupid. And not at all practical. Why would I do that?”

“It’s either that or I stick your head in my armpit and carry you.” Signless said, crossing his arms.

“Ew, no thank you. Why don’t you just be a responsible adult and make that fucker over there share your fancy cloak?” Karkat grumbled.

Signless groaned and Kankri started chuckling at the exchange. “I’ll be making my way to the water now.”

“No. Enough. Either you two listen to me and cooperate or I’m going to kill both of you and continue on. Give me my cloak Kankri. Now,” Signless said, holding out his hand. Kankri mumbled something incoherent for a second before unfastening the cloth, ripping it off and handing it to Signless. “Very good.”

Karkat picked some gravel out of his bloodied palms. “And what now genius?” he asked.

“Now we make out way to the water,” Signless said, slipping back into his cloak. “Come on,”

“Come on what?” Kankri asked, a sneer plastered on his face.

“Come on as in, get under my cloak before I bludgeon you with a small boulder you whiny little snot rag,” Signless barked. Karkat was quick to scuttle under the makeshift tent that was Signless’s cloak and outstretched arm. Signless smiled and draped his right arm over Karkat’s shoulder. “Better?” he asked his young companion.

“Much. You know for a bossy old dude, you’re pretty crafty. Thanks,” Karkat mumbled to himself. Signless smiled.

“And what about me?” Kankri asked.

“What about you?” Signless asked. ”I have another arm. You’re going to come over here so I can cover you up and you don’t fry. Come on Kanrki,” Signless lifted his left arm and beckoned Kankri closer.

Kankri, starting to burn in the sun, huffed and jumped under the cloak. “I shouldn’t have to hide under your arm like a baby cluckbeast…”

“Shut up,” Karkat snapped.

Signless rolled his eyes, wrapped his arms tighter around his companions and trudged forward toward the distant stream. “All in due time, who knows, maybe we’ll learn how to live with each other. I mean, that’s all we’ve got, right? Each other? So why fight. Let’s take this one step at a time.”


	3. Right Direction

The rocky valley they were exploring was a living nightmare. Signless tried his best to keep the two younger Vantases under his cloak and out of the sun, but it wasn’t easy. Kankri walked just as fast as he talked, in other words fast, and Karkat, what with his shorter legs, kept falling behind.

One part of Signless, the impatient part, want to drag Karkat along. The other part, the more thoughtful part, wanted to chain Kankri to his side and keep him from running into the sun and thus, into a sunburn.

They reached the small stream, clear and cool, soon enough. “Go sit in the shade of that bush,” Signless told Kankri, pointing to a scraggy shrub growing out of a crack in a boulder. Kankri grumbled something coarse and incoherent before Signless smacked him upside the head and shoved him out from under his cloak.

Karkat snickered but fell quiet when Signless dragged him to the stream and knelt down. “What?” Karkat asked Signless.

“Come here and let me clean your hands. I don’t want you getting an infection.” Signless said. Something in his voice, in the way he beckoned Karkat to kneel beside him, was softer and more delicate than how he had been up to that point.

Karkat lowered himself into a squatting position. He was still under the cloak. Signless wrapped his arm around Karkat once more and pulled him close. Signless took the hem of his cloak and soaked it in the stream, wetting it and wiping Karkat’s dirt caked and gravel embedded palms.

“Ouch!” Karkat yelped as the older troll picked out flakes of rock and sand from the cuts.

“It’s okay Karkat. It’s better to bear with this discomfort than your whole hand getting gross and infected. Of course we wouldn’t be doing this if you and Kankri hadn’t been fighting,” Signless said. He shook his head a little and smirked at Karkat.

“Ha ha…” Karkat mumbled. He winced as Signless rinsed his hands free of the last of the sand.

“Oh shush. You’re going to be fine, so long as you and Kankri learn to play nice. Got it?” Signless asked, his eyes glancing up at Karkat.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, you don’t  have to harp on it Mr. Preaches-a-lot,” Karkat said. Signless straightened up and Karkat stood, huddling under the cloak. He gave the older troll a brief hug and the two of them walked up the gravelly streamside to where Kankri was hiding in the shade of the bush.

“Are you two done playing doctor by any chance?” Kankri spat, standing up. “Or were you perhaps conspiring a way to ditch me in this wilderness and wander off on your grand quest to figure out how we got here and what’s happened to our memories without me present? Or maybe you aren’t even advanced enough to plan that and you were just considering leaving me behind to die alone and desperate in this forsaken place. Who really knows?” Kankri strode over and draped Signess’s cloak over himself.

“Wha…?” Karkat started, brow furrowed in confusion. He couldn’t finish though, as Signless patted his shoulder and silenced him.

“Kankri, we are not going to abandon you.” Signless wrapped an arm around Kankri’s shoulder. “However, if you decide not to stop talking about silly hypotheticals, I will break your shins. Got it? We have no time for you to build up a persecution complex when, quite frankly, we have no idea where we are, who we are, or how we got here. There is too much to deal with right now, and I will not have you and your bad attitude on top of it all. Okay?” Signless asked. Karkat and Kankri both nodded in silence. “Good.”

Karkat looked up at Signless. “What do we do now? Where do we go?”

“Well,” Signless said with a sigh, looking westward to where the stream wound through the valley. “For now we’ll follow this stream. It’s safer to keep where we know there’s water. And besides, there seems to be more plants trees and shrubs up ahead compared to where we were.”

“But what if there’s civilization back where we were and we’re walking out into the middle of nowhere?” Kankri asked.

“That’s actually a good point…” Karkat mumbled.

Signless looked down at the two of them and sighed. He knew this wasn’t going to be easy. IF only he could remember. If only he knew who these kids were and why he cared so much about their well-being and what was going on. If only he knew what he was doing…

“You two stay here in the shade. Share my cloak. I’m going to go uphill and scope out the surroundings. That boulder up there,” he pointed to a rock way up to the right, “should give me a decent vantage point. I’ll be back in a bit. Don’t you two dare start fighting,” Signless warned. He unfastened his cloak.

Stepping out into the sun, his skin shining in a film of sweat, Signless left his comrades and made his way past the ragged bush and up the hillside. The heat bounced off the ground and hit him. He huffed. This land, hot and dry and oppressive on his body, was a nightmare. Signless turned to see Karkat and Kankri huddled in his cloak in the shade of the bush. He guessed it was some desert sage or mutant cactus or whatever. It didn’t matter.

Within five minutes, Signless scrambled up on top of the boulder and looked out over the valley and the hills. He was right, this was a good vantage point.

Karkat and Kankri were still in the shade by the stream. Signless smiled. He was right yet again, there was more vegetation downstream. Trees and shrubs and hell, a few birds in the air signaled what he knew to be true: where there was water there was life. Farther down, past the vegetation, Signless saw a few more hills rise, covered in trees and desert scrub. One thing was for sure, they were heading in the right direction.

He looked to his left, back to the place where he and the others had come from. Rocks. That all that land of hills and heat was: rocks. Several miles farther along, hidden in the horizon and the bright sunlight, low rolling mountains sat, a lifeless tan color. He smirked. He was right. Downstream was the best course of travel.

The sky was clear. No clouds, no wind, nothing but the hellish sun and piercing blue. Signless shielded his eyes and looked southward, over the valley’s opposite side. Desert hills rolled out to the horizon, devoid of any distinguishing figures. He looked west again, reexamined the trees, nodded, and jumped down from his perch.

As much of a conundrum as Signless’s current situation was, at least one thing was okay. He was leading those kids in the right direction.


	4. Follow The Water

The Signless slid down the hill, spraying little bits of gravel and a cloud of dust up and away from him. He smirked, a little surprised by the fact he could do that. It probably looked pretty damned cool. Until that piece of rock flew up and smacked him in the nose.

He tumbled.

Down the last two yards of hill, the Signless rolled and flailed like a wriggler fresh out of the caverns. Embarrassment did not begin to describe the sensation creeping through him. His cheeks flushed red as he looked up to see Karkat scrambling over to his side.

“Holy fuck are you okay?” Karkat shouted, dropping to his knees. Signless pulled himself up and nodded.

“I’m fine kid. Really. No issues here. None.” Signless said. He rested on his knees and looked over his hands, scraped and coated in dirt. He cussed under his breath and took a minute to stand. Kankri was finally walking over, cloak draped over him, a flat look of indifference across his face.

“Took a tumble, didn’t you hotshot?” he sneered. Signless took a step over to the boy and smacked him upside the head.

“I’ve had about enough of your petulant shit today. Either adjust that attitude or you lose the cloak and you can fry in the sun.” Signless looked over and grabbed Karkat, shuffling him under the cloak and out of the sun. “And for your information, we are heading in the right direction. Back that way is all desert and rock. There are scrublands further along. So Kankri, now that we’ve debunked your asinine bullshit, pick up your feet and march.”

Signless scowled and headed for the little stream. He didn’t look back, sure they’d follow him now. There was no point thinking they wouldn’t follow. They’d burn if it weren’t for Signless. They’d die if it weren’t for him.

He turned.

Kankri and Karkat were trudging along behind him. Signless let a flicker of a smile crossed his charcoal colored lips. Good. The kids were following him. That meant they’d survive. He turned and continued, not stopping by the stream to wash his hands. There was no time for that frivolous bullshit. He had kids that needed food and shelter and he had to provide. Right now, in the dry brushlands at the bottom of this ditch in the broiling sun, he couldn’t do that. But the stream would lead him somewhere where he could.

They kept walking westward. They kept next to the stream, Kankri shoving Karkat over into the water until his shoes and socks were soaked. Signless only stopped him after Karkat had fallen in. He rectified the situation by smacking Kankri upside the head.

“Cut the shit Kankri or you lose the cloak.” Signless turned to help Karkat out of the stream. The littlest Vantas swatted at him and stood on his own, disgruntled that the freak with the red sweater could so easily knock him down.

“You’re not going to do anything,” Kankri sneered. “You’re just a pile of empty threats. You’re too focused on leading us into the wild and trying to keep us together to actually punish me for a little bit of childish back and forth.”

“Except that it’s not a back and forth. It’s just you being a disagreeable sack of vomit for the sake of being a disagreeable sack of vomit.” Karkat spat, trying to back under the cloak. But to no avail. Signless was jumping into action.

“Empty threat? We’ll see about that!” Signless said, snatching at the cloak and whipping it off and putting it on once more. Kankri almost immediately started sweating in the late afternoon sun. Signless beckoned Karkat over to hid under the cloth with him.

The littlest Vantas did so and he and the Signless began walking off westward again alongside the stream.

“Where are you going?” Kankri asked, shouting. “I can’t go anywhere in this sun! Come back! You can’t be so damned inconsiderate to abandon me in this blistering sunlight and sweltering heat. Some carnivorous beast will prey upon me in a matter of minutes. Or is that what you’re hoping for? To get rid of me? To off me now so you and that scrawny asshole can go off on some silly little adventure into who knows where? Huh? Am I in the theoretical ballpark here? I think I am. No. I know I am. You two are the most selfish and abusive sacks of dirt I have ever…”

Signless spun around and swung his arm toward Kankri. The sweater clad blabbermouth flinched as Signless grabbed his flipping lips between his thumb and forefinger. “This,” he began, “is why you’re going to go without the cloak for a while. You run your lips more than a marathon runner. I think. I don’t really… remember what a marathon is. Or why runners are involved. Either way, you need to shut the fuck up and move one foot in front of another until we find a place to bed down for the night. Got it?”

Kankri nodded, Signless still holding his lips shut.

Karkat stifled a snorting laugh. But there was no time for any hilarious antics. As if by cue, both Kankri’s and Karkat’s stomachs growled.

Signless groaned.

***

There was a steady stream of complaining as they made their way along beside the stream. Kankri did most of it, but Signless was too sympathetic to fight it. Honestly? Even his stomach was killing him. When was the last time he ate? Who knew. It must’ve been the same for the kids and it killed him that he couldn’t provide.

Karkat did his fair share of complaining. But instead of just whining in Signless’s ear, every so often he’d stop and examine the bushes, noticing an empty bird’s nest or a dry husk of some long overripe fruit. Their collective luck was rotten, but by nightfall one thing was certain, they would have a good place to rest. The brush had given way to twisting trees green with foliage. Along the ground were dried leaves and dead twigs and, well, the makings of a good fire. Not that they thought they needed it. The sun had assaulted all of them thoroughly.

Signless set his cloak under a tree with cathedral-like arching branches and directed his two companions to sit. They obeyed wordlessly.

Signless turned back to the stream, now more of a brook or tiny river, and knelt at the banks to finally wash his hands. The sun was at a low angle, hitting the side of his face with a bronze glow. The cool water hurt as he pried off the dirty scabs. It hurt. But it was a sign that he had gotten those kids somewhere safer, better, than the dirt and rocks and sand they had woken up in. It was better than a dank cave.

His red stained the waters and he cussed under his breath. He prayed it wouldn’t get infected. But there was no time to think of that… there were more pressing matters at hand. Primarily: food. Signless stood and looked at the opposite bank of the brook where several trees grew. Wait…

He jumped into action, trudging through the cold waters and almost slipping on the pebbly riverbed.

Karkat and Kankri looked up and almost went to find out what he was up to, but the low sun still got to them. They bit their lips, quarreled for a second, and sat back down on the cloak, throwing leaves at each other in spite.

Signless didn’t give a fuck at this point.


	5. Figs

The water was pleasant. Really. It just wasn’t fun getting wet and then trudging up onto the rocky, dusty riverbank. At last, after a day of battling heat and dry desert air and whatever fights the two younger trolls got into, Signless had found something of a good omen.

Food.

The dry and hot ravine had slowly been growing greener and greener as Signless, Karkat and Kankri had followed the stream. The stream itself had gown wider and deeper and the earth around it had grown fertile. Fertile. Fertile enough for several  fig trees to take root and bear fruit.

Fruit.

Signless clambered over to the trunks and hugged them. “Bless you bountiful trees. Bless you,” he said, a silly smile crossing his lips. “Bless you, marvelous creature of nature. You have no idea how fucking hungry I am. And I have kids to worry about too. Bless you.”

Signless composed himself and took a deep breath. He looked up and cocked his head. Only a few figs were within arm’s reach. He stood tall and gave a gruff nod before jumping up to grab a branch. Using a bit of swinging momentum he pulled himself up. He shimmied and twisted himself up into the leafy branches.

The light was slowly fading from the valley and he turned to see Kankri and Karkat still bickering on the other side of the river. He rolled his eyes. Signless started picking ripe figs. The smile made him smile, hum, light up a bit from the inside. Something clicked… fig trees were a very important thing.

He remembered rows and rows of fig trees. He remembered hiding out in the groves during daylight with… other trolls. Oh good God he remembered other trolls. Signless almost dropped his armful of figs as he froze.

_There were… two…? No, three others. Wait, who were they? Why were they hiding in a grove with me? I…_

“SIGNLESS!” a shout echoed through the valley. “HURRY THE FUCK UP! KANKRI IS TRYING TO MAKE ME EAT A ROCK!”

_Karkat…_

Signless picked a few dozen more figs, tucked them in the crook of his arm and scrambled down the tree. He hit the ground, feet first, and turned back to the river. Only know did he realize how unpleasant a wet body suit was. He proceeded back across the stream, getting soaked up to his navel again.

He tried to keep the figs dry, but dropped one or two. Grumbling, he trudged up to his companions and set the figs down on the cloak. Signless stood and watched as Karkat and Kankri tangled up, a fistful of dirt in one of Kankri’s hand, a fistful of Karkat’s hair in the other.

“ENOUGH!” Signless roared. Kankri tumbled backwards as the dripping wet troll with the fiery eyes kicked him away. “I have had it up to here with you, you piss ants! Especially you Kankri! What the fuck is wrong with you?! Huh?”

Kankri shrunk back for a mere moment but jumped to his feet and stared up at Signless.

“What’s it to you anyway?” Kankri asked. “Are you jealous I’m regaling this douchebag with attention? Are you playing favorites and just looking for a reason to be mad at me? That’s all you want, is to be mad at me. You’re looking for a reason to abandon me and leave me to die in this god forsaken place while you and this ugly fucker run off into the sunset. I know it.” He stomped his foot and turned away, arms crossed, face flushed red.

Karkat scrambled up and to Signless’s side. He dusted himself off and huffed. “You’re a bastard Kankri. You really fucking are. You try and beat me to shit because I told you we need to find shelter instead of worrying about your damned memories and you try and make me eat dirt and rocks and leaves.” Karkat folded his arms and stepped back a half-step. “This isn’t about you being a victim. It’s about you being an asshole.”

Signless placed his hand on Karkat’s chest and pushed him back. He silenced him with the push and stepped forward. “Kankri Vantas, you are going to behave or I’m going to throw you in the brook. All we have right now is each other. If you’re going to be a snot rag, that puts all of us in danger of not surviving these wilds. I won’t have it. You will stay away from Karkat.”

Signless grabbed Kankri’s shoulder and spun him around. He grabbed his chin in one hand and made him look up.

“Let go of me…” Kankri grumbled.

“Kid, you’re going to play nice or I’m going to punch you in the bulge.” Signless said through his teeth. Kankri shrunk back and muttered a tiny apology. He nodded, pursed his lips, and moved to sit down on the cloak, knees cradled up by his chest.

“Finally…” Karkat sighed, stepping forward to Signless’s side. “Dude… you’re kind of really wet…”

“No matter, I finally got us some food.” Signless turned and ruffled Karkat’s hair before bending over to grab a fig for himself. “Figs. They’re good. And should hold us over for a few hours. Until then… we rest. And I’m going to dry off…”

Karkat and Kankri both cocked an eyebrow as they bit into their figs. Signless didn’t notice, instead he unzipped his suit and stripped in a flash. Kankri choked a bit. Karkat dropped his fig.

“What are you doing!?” Karkat yelled.

Signless turned to him, butt naked and still wet. “I’m not wearing a wet pair of pants all night. What’s the big deal?”

“YOU’RE NAKED!” Kankri yelled, covering his eyes with his sweater.

“And? There’s nothing wrong with my body is there? I’m not deformed, am I?” Signless asked, twisting to look at himself. His dark pewter skin was cast in shadow as the sunlight hit him. Karkat covered his face with his hands and peered through his fingers.

“Could you please put some clothes on you naked idiot?” Karkat whined as Signless smirked and stretched a bit to tease them.

“Naw… I’m good.” Signless chuckled, squatting down to pick up another fig. Karkat whined. Kankri stayed hidden under his sweater. “You two should eat. I’m not going back over there to get any more fruit.”

“How can we eat when your plump ass is right in front of us?” Karkat asked, scooting back after he grabbed a pair of figs. He handed one to Kankri who pulled it up his sleeve and into his sweater house. The two of them tried to avert their sight from Signless’s direction.

Signless chuckled. He had finally found a way to get Karkat and Kankri to stop fighting.

***

They slept wrapped up in a cloak as night fell. Karkat reluctantly nuzzled under Signless’s arm and let the extra black fabric be draped over him. The older man smelt nice… like clean and also like figs. Karkat didn’t toss or turn as Signless held him with his sinewy arms.

Kanrki, on the other hand, refused for the longest time to go anywhere near Signless and his naked body. He quipped on the armpit hair and sweat along his back and any other gross thing he could point out. Signless proceeded to shrug and curl up around Karkat and fall asleep.

About an hour after the moon had risen and the dew had settled onto the ground, Kankri sat up and tugged his sweater down back around his neck. He grumbled, wiping at the unpleasant cool wetness collection in his hair and on his skin.

He grumbled and shook and looked about for any refuge from his misery.

“God damned jerks…” he muttered. Standing, Kankri walked about for a minute or two. The only sound were braches rubbing against each other in the cool, night air and the running brook. “Why am I here…?” Kankri whispered to himself, wiping at his face with his sweater-d sleeve. He did care for dew on his face, or tears for that matter.

He turned to look down at the other two. Those trolls who looked too much like him for his own comfort. That short loud kid who questioned Kankri’s every word and that older one who… who did everything in his power to make Kankri feel like he was doing wrong, who glared at him and told him he was bad, who pushed and pulled and set him out in the sun to leave him to burn. Kankri wiped his face again.

Stepping forward, he knelt down on the ground next to Signless. Kankri poked his shoulder. “Signless?” he whispered. He poked his shoulder again, in a timid way as if trying to poke fire without getting burned. “Signless, I’m cold.”

The older troll cracked open his eye and peered at the little whimpering boy at his side. He swung his free arm open and placed a hand on Kankri’s shoulder. “Lie down kiddo,” he mumbled, his pan still half caked in sleep.

Kankri gave a tiny nod and slipped down into the folds of Signless’s cloak. He nestled close to the warm, dark flesh and huffed a little. “I’m sorry you hate me,” he mumbled into Signless’s side.

“I don’t hate you Kankri. You just irritate me,” Signless whispered. Kankri nuzzled closer into Signless’s body. “Are you crying Kankri?”

Kankri froze. Was his face really that wet? “It’s dew.”

“I hope so. I’d have to hug you a little tighter if you were crying. And I know how much you don’t like me,” Signless said. If it were any lighter out Kankri may have noticed the smile.

“It’s not that I don’t like you Signless. You just irritate me,” Kankri whispered.

If it were any lighter out they would have noticed each other’s smiles.

Signless pulled his cloak up and over Kankri and patted his back as the two of them conducted some more body heat. Kankri wrapped an arm over Signless’s midsection and hugged him as he drifted off for the night, this time covered and warm.

***

Morning came slowly. Quietly. The sun pulled out of the horizons grip over the desert where they had come from. The brook let off a veil of fog around the three Vantases huddled under the arching branches of a scraggly desert tree. From a distance their cloaked bodies could be mistaken for a very dark and lumpy rock.

But up closer their collective breathing gave away their true form. That and Signless’s feet were poking out. Off to the side up in a tree branch hung a damp, sleeveless bodysuit. It was more of a fancy pair of pants, but the owner never cared to make that distinction.

It was surprising to the three trolls how cold it got in the desert at night. Kankri experienced that firsthand. Signless cracked his eye open as he felt the two of them shiver and shake by his bare sides. He took effort not to disturb them as he slipped down and away from them. He wrapped his cloak tighter around their bodies and padded off to the brook.

Brushing some dirt and sand off his butt, he dipped a toe into the cool, but not too cool, water. Signless waded out. He adjusted to the brook and splashed some water up into his face to wake up. Wake up and get ready. He crossed the river to fetch breakfast. Shimmying up a different tree this time, Signless was careful not to scrape himself up on the bark. He grabbed an armful of figs and jumped down to the ground. In no time he was crossing the river again, making his way back to Karkat and Kankri to bring them their meager breakfast.

He shook his behind a little to rid himself of the chilling wet. He paced over to the lump of cloak and boys and knelt down. He was a filthy mix of mud and river water by the time he had dumped the figs between Karkat and Kankri. Signless stood and went back to the brook.

He bathed himself once more, this time submerging himself completely for a brief moment. When he came back up he was facing the fig trees, counting them and trying to figure how and the two boys could ration the fruit.

Signless froze.

The ravine was flooded with the sound of Karkat’s screaming.


	6. Wake Up Call

Signless jumped and trudged back through the water, clambering to the gravelly bank. Screaming was never good. Not when it was that loud and panicked. Not when it’s first thing in the morning. Not when they were alone, memory gone, on the verge of starvation, and wandering through the wilderness. There was still water and strands of wet hair in his eyes when he made it to the shore. Signless wiped his face clear and bolted for his companions.

Aside from Kankri (and his shrill shriek) and Karkat… Wait… Signless spotted the offending occurrence. A young troll, still tall and rather broad-framed, stood over the two younger Vantases, waving enthusiastically.

“Step off!” Signless panted, reaching out and pushing the stranger away. Karkat clasped a hand over Kankri’s mouth as soon as Signless intervened.

The stranger went wide eyed and stumbled back. “My goodness! You’re in the nude. Oh how depraved…” The stranger covered his face with his gloved hands and shook his head. “I never did expect this. Oh please pardon my intrusion, I just wished to say hello.”

“Who are you?” Karkat asked, hand still over Kankri’s mouth. Kankri struggled for a few moments, trying to pry off his gag, but to no avail.

Signless knelt down and slipped his cloak out from under the other two. Standing up he shook it free of some leaves and dust and wrapped it around himself. “I’m clothed now. Look at me stranger, none of us pose you any harm. Why don’t you introduce yourself?”

“Oh…” the stranger slowly lowered his hands from his face and smiled again, his pearly white teeth gleaming in the morning light. That and his eager, wide-eyed expression made the three Vantases draw back in shock. His face seemed pained. “My name is Horuss. Horuss Zahhak. My family and I and the Maryams were travelling along this valley for a few days now and when I was out this morning gathering firewood, I happened upon you two sleeping. I thought a good morning call would have been appreciated.”

“Well it wasn’t!” Kankri spat the instant he managed to wrangle Karkat’s hand off of his mouth. “You scared us halfway out of our skins! Think about that for a second. You crept up on two oblivious fellows, wrapped in the confines of slumber and not only woke them up, but scared them so damned horribly, you might as well have been wielding and hollering a war cry. What gives you the right? Huh?”

Karkat groaned and tried to cover Kankri’s mouth again. “Would you just shut your—”

Kankri wasn’t having any of it though. He slapped at Karkat and pushed him away. “And what gives _you_ the right to try and silence me. This Horuss fellow should be made aware of his unending rudeness and crass nature and—”

This time Karkat cut him off. “Oh shut your trap. The guy made a mistake. Ease off the gas pedal for your nonsense and chill the fuck out. It isn’t getting us anywhere.”

“Says you.”

“Says me and Signless and Horuss most likely too,” Karkat said, folding his arms and frowning. “You’re a loud mouth, even first thing in the morning, and its beyond irritating. Shut your trap you sandpapery nook.”

And before Kankri could punch Karkat in his face (and his arm was swinging in that general direction) Signless stepped in. He pulled Kankri back and held him still. Turning to Horuss he spoke.

“I’m sorry. We’ve had a rough few days,” he said. “Please pardon my companions. As for you Karkat…” Signless turned to the youngest troll. “Enough with the insults and antagonizing. It only worsens the problems. And Kankri: enough is enough. We have a guest. Act civil.”

The Signless dropped Kankri an inch to the ground and turned to Horuss.

“I apologize for the intrusion dear sirs. I was just excited to see some new faces after these past few days. I shall be on my way if I’ve worn out my welcome…” Horuss said, creepy smile fading to a genuine frown.

Signless reached out to the younger stranger. He was almost Signless’s height, at least twice as muscular, had his hair in a ponytail that fell to the middle of his back and was clothed fully. Unlike Signless. A slight blush crossed Signless’s face as he wrapped the cloak tighter around himself. While he was comfortable with his body in front of his travelling companions, Signless felt just a bit more self-conscious in front of Hourss. And no, it had _nothing_ to do with the fact this wriggler had muscles that put Signless to shame.

“Don’t apologize Horuss. We’re a bit of a jumpy mess.” Signless said with a genuine smile. Horuss perked up, his pained grin returning. Signless grimaced just ever so slightly.

“All the same, I still apologize. It was rather rude of me to just wake you up like that… Oh I never did get your names. You said Karkat and Kankri?” Horuss asked, looking at Signless.

“Oh… yes. This is Karkat and Kankri,” Signless said, gesturing to the younger two. “And I am Signless. It’s a… pleasure to meet you Horuss. It’s been a very rough few days.”

“Oh I can empathize Mr. Signless,” Horuss said. “Me and my fellow companions, my family and the Maryams, we’ve been travelling for over a day now. The desert has been harsh on us. We found this valley and these fig trees just last night. It’s been quite a blessing.”

“Your family?” Kankri asked.

Horuss turned to him and nodded. “Oh yes. Well… I think so at least. I can’t really remember that much. But Equius and I share the same last name and Mr. Darkleer and I share our entire name. He’s a very peculiar fellow, but he’s kind to us.”

“Mr. Darkleer?” Signless asked. His head cocked to the side. Something about that name sounded familiar. But he couldn’t place it. Shaking his head, he tried to think rationally for a moment. “Horuss, would it be completely out of line for me to ask you to introduce us to your group?”

“Not at all!” Horuss said, his pained smile coming out in full force. Karkat winced at the sight. Horuss turned to the younger two. “You guys will be welcomed with open arms among my companions. The more the merrier, is it not? Shall we get going?” Horuss asked, taking a step back and continuing to smile.

Karkat and Kankri looked at one another. Their expressions conveyed a simple conversation. Simple, but nonetheless important. _Should we really trust this creepy guy who appeared out of nowhere?_

But there was no time to dwell on that or the fact that this troll had quite literally just met them. Signless was already gathering his pants off the tree branch and following Horuss downriver and through the trees.

Karkat and Kankri both gulped and followed suit.


	7. Compainionship

Signless kept both Karkat and Kankri under the protection of his cloak as they followed the stranger through the trees. The desert sun was still a threat, even early in the morning.  Horuss, the stranger in question, marched through the groves of fig trees and lead them further down river. The direction the three Vantases had been going. Westward.

Kankri grumbled and moaned about his stomach and breakfast and sore feet the entire time.

“Would you stop?” Karkat asked in a hoarse whisper. “It’s as if you aren’t complaining, you aren’t breathing right. Get a grip.”

“Oh would you just shut the hell up and—”

Signless covered both of their mouths with his hands. There would be none of this today. No. Not at all. Especially not if they were going to be meeting new people. Nope. Not going to happen. Signless would not have it.

Horuss turned to them. “If you would like to take a break for breakfast, I would not be opposed. I was out gathering figs when I came across you earlier in fact.”

Signless nodded. “That would be much appreciated. May we?”

“Of course!” Horuss said, his smile making Signless shy away a bit.

The Signless handed his damp pants to Karkat before going to the nearest fig tree and jumping up to climb up a low hanging branch. The other three watched in silence. Scrambling up a bit, cloak fluttering, bare ass exposed, Signless snatched at a few plump figs and tossed them down to his travelling companions below. He smiled. Satisfied with the haul, he clambered down and joined them for a quick meal on the move.

“I must say,” Horuss said, “I am very impressed by your tree climbing skills, Sir Signless.”

“Is that so?” Signless asked, brow up, shoulders shrugging. “It kind of comes second nature when the food you’re desperate for is out of reach.”

“That is a very good point.” Horuss admitted.

Karkat rolled his eyes. “It’s not that hard to climb a tree.”

“Yes, but can you do it naked?” Signless commented, nudging Karkat with his elbow. Kankri snorted, a little fig spraying past his lips. Karkat grumped a bit and resolved not to speak.

After a good ten minutes or so, the trees thinned a bit and the four trolls entered a clearing. The Vantases collectively gulped. Seated on some fallen logs and boulders were the rest of Horuss’ party. And boy oh boy, were there quite a few trolls.

Kankri pushed out from under Signless’s cloak. Karkat was about to protest, but Signless held him by his side. There was no need to rush into this. As forward and cheery as Horuss was, Signless knew better than to simply walk into a gathering of utter strangers without some sort of precaution.

Kankri? Not so much.

“Hello fellow trolls, my name is—” Kankri couldn’t finish.

A behemoth of a troll, a towering pile of muscles and hair, flashed into action and rolled off a boulder, swiveled on his knee to face Kankri, and pointed his drawn bow at the little troll.

“State your name and business here, stranger!” the giant barked. His arrow stayed frozen in place, as if waiting, poised, for a shot straight through Kankri’s head.

Signless and Karkat jumped into action. Rushing past Horuss, they pulled Kankri out of the way and stood in front of them as a shield. Signless shoved Karkat back as well and growled, trying to scare him into place. “Enough!” Signless barked.

“Who are —?” the giant started as he looked over Signless. He lowered his bow a half inch and rose off of his knee. Something wasn’t right. Something… clicked.

“They call me Signless. And I’d sure as hell appreciate it if you’d lower the weapon and stop threatening me and my friends.” Signless barked, staring down the much, much larger man. He didn’t waver, didn’t shuffle his feet, didn’t slump or look away. Signless seemed to know what he was doing.

Kankri and Karkat looked at each other, eye wide, and gulped.

The giant lowered his bow completely and dropped his arrow. “You… I… I know you…”

The entire gathering of trolls went silent. They all froze. Kankri stepped forward again. “How?”

***

It took a few minutes of greetings and explanations and the like before the three Vantases settled down with the other group of trolls. There were six of them in all. Three men, all named Zahhak, and three ladies, all named Maryam.

Signless gravitated toward the older Maraym, the one with somewhat tired green eyes, and sat down next to her. The struck up a conversation rather quickly, trying to figure out what exactly had happened in the last few days.

“It’s all very foggy, to be honest.” Dolorosa said with a wistful sigh. “The girls and I woke up not far from here, near a spring by some fruit trees. We don’t remember anything before then. So we stuck together and wandered about this grove for a few hours before meeting the Zahhaks.”

“I see…”

“It was very awkward to meet Miss Maryam.” Darkleer admitted, sitting down across a small campfire from the two of them. “I fear that I may be an imposing individual. Thank goodness Equius and Horuss being much better at first impressions than I.”

“Yes indeed,” Horuss said, his smile still plastered on his face. Equius stat to his left and was the only troll apparently comfortable enough to sit near him. To Equius’s left Kanaya and Karkat sat avoiding the gaze of each other while they twiddled their thumbs.

Kankri, however, was trying to deal with a dotting new friend: Porrim.

“Please allow me to simply wash it.”

“No.”

“But it’s so filthy. Don’t be a wriggler about it.”

“I said no. And besides, what in the world is a wriggler?”

“It’s the word for the young of our species.”

“And how in the world do you know that?”

“I just do…”

Signless perked up as he heard that. “So wait… Darkleer… you remember me and Porrim remembers things like that? I can’t… remember anything besides my name and, I don’t know how to describe it, basic survival instincts?”

“That sounds about right,” the Dolorosa said, pulling apart a fig slowly. “I don’t remember much besides my name and some strange words and how to mend clothes.”

“And I remember some, well, strange things,” Darkleer said, looking down into his lap. “We all bleed different colors for instance.”

“What?” the three Vantases asked in unison.

“Yes,” Equius said. “Our race is, or was, comprised of different subsets of trolls whose genetics created a diverse spectrum of blood colors, from maroon through the visible spectrum of light, to a fuchcia color.”

Darkleer and Horuss both nodded in agreement with their youngest relative. Even though he was clearly not as old as the other two Zahhaks, having yet to develop the build of an adult blueblood, he spoke clearly and with a sense of authority. The others simply listened.

Darkleer nodded. “Yes. We adults have eyes that can give away our blood color. It doesn’t develop until maturity so you younger trolls won’t really know your blood color unless you cut yourself,” Darkleer said. Standing up, he walked over to Signless and squatted down in front of him. “You on the other hand…”

Signless pulled back just a little. “What’s the matter?”

“I already checked Madame Dolorosa and found she was a jadeblood. You however…” Darkleer said, trailing off as he peered into Signless’s eyes. “You’re…”

“What?”

Darkleer froze and straightened up. Something clearly wasn’t right and Signless, Dolorosa and the bunch could tell. The giant blueblood blinked a few times as if trying to process the thoughts going thrugh his head. Shaking his head, he shrugged.

“That’s unusual.”

“What’s unusual?” the group asked.

Darkleer gulped and returned to his seat. “Signless, your blood color is unlike any I have a… memory of,” Darkleer said. The pause before the word memory was slight and only Equius picked up on it. The rest of them just took a moment to stare at the giant.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Kankri asked.

“It means,” Darkleer spoke up, “that I have no recollection of his blood color.”

“Well maybe you just don’t remember it,” Kankri said, scoffing. “To insinuate that we’re somehow a set of freaks because your memory is shoddy… I swear.”

“Kankri!” Karkat elbowed him. “He did no such thing.”

“Oh shut up. You don’t understand.” Kankri snapped, elbowing him back. Within a second the two of them had tumbled off of the log they were sitting on and were tussling. Their new companions sat in shock whereas Signless simply groaned, stood, circled the fire and wrenched them apart.

“Enough!” Signless hissed. “I will not tolerate you two being petulant brats in front of Mom!”

Everyone went silent. Everyone.

Signless dropped the two young Vantases and stood up straight, blushing like a madman. Why had he said that? Where did that come from? He turned slowly and faced the Dolorosa. Everyone in camp had the gut feeling that’s who he was talking about. Why? None of them knew.

“I’m sorry…”

“Don’t be dear,” she said with a smile. “I think it’s fine. Perhaps you’re just regaining your memory? I do have a slight urge to call you my son after all. Now come here and settle down. All of you,” Dolorosa said. There was this sort of commanding softness to her voice, to her whole being, and Kankri and Karkat got back to playing civil in the blink of an eye.

Porrim and Kanaya were both snickering.

It took some time to grow acquainted with each other, but the younger trolls didn’t have too much difficulty with that. The group of nine trolls, three giants, three ladies, and three slender odd-bloods, sat around the fire the Zahhaks had started the night before. There was light discussion about shelter and clothes and how to ration the fruit they had, but next to nothing about what Kankri wanted to hear.

As the heat of the sun began getting too much, Equius asked his ancestor (a term Dolorosa remembered) if it would be acceptable to go to the river to bathe.

“Yes, that is alright. Perhaps you should take our new companions, show them around camp and the like,” Darkleer said. Karkat and Kankri perked up. They’d get a moment away from the dull conversations about figs and campfire wood? That’d be great.

“Thank you Sir.” Equius said, bowing his head and standing.

“Perhaps,” Porrim spoke up, “Kankri should leave his sweater here. It looks like it needs a good cleaning.”

Kankri grimaced. “Don’t dote on me.”

“I’m not. I’m just trying to be helpful,” Porrim said in a huff.

“I don’t need you being helpful,”

“I think you do,”

“And why’s that?”

“Your sweater is wrecked. And you’re filthy. And it appears you’re not capable of remedying that.”

“Porrim!” Dolorosa shouted, a frown crossing her face. “We don’t talk to people like that.”

“Ma’am…” Signless interrupted. “Perhaps it wouldn’t be a bad idea for him to get his clothes cleaned. We’ve been in the dirt and rocks for a few days.”

“I don’t need to cough up my sweater to get cleaned!” Kankri protested. No one listened.

“And I was thinking he’d probably be a lot less cranky if he’d get out of that thing. Especially with the sun and the heat and all,” Signless said with a shrug. Both Porrim and Dolorosa nodded in understanding.

“We’ve set up a place for washing clothes on the other side of the river,” Dolorosa explained. “There’s good rocks for it over there. Porrim, Horuss and I will tend to that while Equius shows you boys to the spot around the bend. Alright?”

Signless nodded and turned to Kankri. “Let Porrim clean your sweater. In fact... if these fine ladies are willing, I’d really appreciate both of you getting everything cleaned.”

“I didn’t offer…” Porrim tried to interject. Dolorosa simply clasped her younger companion’s shoulder. Nice and tightly.

“Hush,” she mumbled.

“But I didn’t offer to be the laundry wench,” Porrim hissed at Dolorosa while Signless snatched at Kankri’s sweater and the three Vantases fumbled with their clothes. “I offered to fix Kankri’s sweater. That’s it. What the hell?”

“Calm down,” Dolorosa said, leaning into Porrim’s ear and whispering. “They’ll owe us in the long run. Think… no more climbing trees for fruit.” A glint came to life in both Maryams eyes and Porrim nodded.

“I still don’t like doing laundry for strangers…” Porrim said; her were arms crossed now. Dolorosa chuckled and patted her shoulder.

Signless and his boys turned back to Dolorosa and offered her a neatly folded pile of clothes. “I’ll join you. I’ve washed earlier so it’s no trouble.” Signless smiled.

“Very well,” Dolorosa said, nodding and standing. “Follow me and Porrim… there’s a set of rocks up river we can cross there. It’s very nice this time of day…” Dolorosa said, leading Signless, Horuss and Porrim out of camp.

Darkleer realized he was the only adult around pretty quickly. “So everyone…” he started, clearly unsure of how to approach this. “You’re going to go downriver to bathe, is that correct?”

“I think I’ll stay here and gather some more fruit for dinner,” Kanaya said, standing and checking a pile of figs on Dolorosa’s cloak. “Someone has to make sure we eat.”

“That is a good idea.” Darkleer stood and nodded. Turning to the three boys: Karkat, Kankri and Equius, he stepped over. “Keep to the shade of the trees please. We do not want to see you covered in burns. And we don’t have the means to treat them. Be safe.”

“Please,” Kanaya said with a smile. “We might have just met but it would be awful to think something had happened to you.”

Kankri and Karkat blushed, both covered only in very similar crab-print boxer briefs, before following Equius downriver. A girl had talked to them. And had been nice. And they didn’t know what else to do but run down a dirt path and get out of there.

Darkleer chuckled and went with Kanaya to gather more fruit.


	8. A 'What If' Scenario

The three boys kept to the shade of the trees just as they were asked to. After all, a sunburn in the desert was bad as it was, but the fact that they’d have no way to treat it made the possibility all the more dangerous.

It was still hot though.

Karkat, Kankri and Equius were still burning. Slightly.

Equius led them down the gravelly path along the riverside. To their right were rows of fig trees and pomegranate shrubs to the right, and the ever widening river to the left. Equius stopped and looked down the steep riverbank to a pooling area of water hidden in a tangle of tree branches.

“Here we are,” he said, turning to the Vantases. “Just down this hill.”

“Isn’t it kind of steep?” Kankri asked, folding his arms and grumbling a bit.

“It’s not too bad. Horuss and I have bathed here a few times. Come on,” Equius said, stepping forward and slowly skidding down the sandy slope. Making it to the bottom, he looked back up the hill and waved for his companions to follow.

Kankri and Karkat looked at each other, apprehension in their eyes. No. This hill was far too steep. “He must be some kind of nut,” Kankri whispered, almost a hiss, into Karkat’s ear.

“Shut up. If he can do it we sure as hell can.”

“Are you two coming down here to bather or shall I come back up?” Equius called out.

“One minute!” Karkat shouted down the hill. “Come on,” he said, lower, as he turned to Kankri.

“No.”

“Are you really gonna be a pissbaby about this?” Karkat snapped. “Signless told us to bathe. And besides, you reek.”

“You overestimate my ability to give a fuck,” Kankri sneered.

Equius looked up the hill at the two of them, head cocked to the side a bit. “Are you two alright? Did something happen? Do we need to return to camp?”

“No!” Karkat said, waving his hand in dismissal. “We’ll be right there.”

Crossing his arms over his bare chest, Kankri huffed. “I’m not risking my neck just to take a bath. You’re starting to sound like that Porrim.”

“Oh give me a break,” Karkat said. He rolled his eyes and grabbed Kankri’s shoulder, pulling him toward the hill.

“Stop!” Kankri shouted.

Karkat was having none of it though. He tugged, sliding down the hill slowly, his feet kicking up gravel and dirt. Kankri slapped at Karkat, whining and shouting the entire time.

“Stop it!”

“No, you’re being a little bitch yet again. Deal with it,” Karkat grumbled, pulling Kankri farther down the steep incline. Kankri yelped.

Slipping, the two of them tumbled down the hill, straight for Equius. They screamed. Shouting and punching one another as the skid down the gravel and dirt, the Vantases had no idea they were about to…

“Whoa!” Equius shouted.

Kankri and Karkat bowled right into the blueblood’s legs and the three of them landed in the river. Struggling for a moment, Equius swam back to the surface and gasped. Kankri and Karkat followed.

“You asshole!” Kankri shrieked, standing up and wading back to the shore. :What are you trying to do? Kill me?!”

“No! I’m trying to get you to stop being such an uptight piece of—”

“You’re trying to kill me. You don’t want your memories back. Signless doesn’t either. You’re all just a bunch of idiots content with wandering the wilderness and cavorting with creepy smiley dudes and—”

Equius looked to Karkat. “He talking about Horuss?” he muttered.

“Yeah… what’s up with him?” Karkat asked.

“I have no idea. He woke up, shook his head a few times and said that all he remembered was that he needed to smile.”

“Freaky.”

“Undoubtedly.”

Kankri flushed red and hissed. “Are you even listening?!”

“No not really.” Karkat said, shrugging and wading out into a deeper section of river. The water was cool. It was a nice cool too. The kind you’d expect from a cold drink on a hot day in a glass coated in condensation. Karkat sighed, falling back to hit the water again and float on his back.

Kankri huffed and checked his arms, scratched, wet and dirty. Whining some, he sat down on the nearest rock and slowly picked away at the dirt on his skin.

“You know it’d be easier if you’d just join us here in the water,” Equius said, wading over to the shore. “Or is it that you can’t swim?”

“I can swim you bafoon!” Kankri spat. Equius took a step back. Karkat stood up.

“Don’t be mean to Equius. He’s from a clan of giants, but he was nice enough to show us somewhere to relax and get away from this awful heat.” Karkat said, stepping out of the water and glaring down at Kankri.

“Oh shut it you twit. If you can’t tell, I’m all scrapped up and need to tend to my injuries.” Kankri stood up and turned to climb up the hill.

“Oh give me a break,” Karkat said. “I’m covered in dirt and scrapes too. Just take a freaking bath and you’ll be fine.”

“Bull,” Kankri said, rounding on Karkat. “We can’t just lounge around while we need to figure out what happened to our memories.”

“Is that what this is about?” Karkat asked, his expression softening. He… knew where Kankri was coming from. But still, he was acting ridiculous. “C’mon… it’s not like you’re going to find memories smelling like that.”

“Oh shut it you brat!” Kankri snapped.

“Now would be my opportune time to see myself out…” Equius muttered to himself, turning and walking back into the river. Kankri rolled his eyes.

“Stop this crap,” Karkat hissed so Equius couldn’t hear. “Can’t you just stop worry so fucking much about what got us here and just think about what we’re going to do now? Like befriend these people and survive?”

“Shut it,” Kankri said. “What if these people are the reason we can’t remember anything?”

“So you’re telling me you think these people had something to do with the fact the you, me, Signless and _all of them_ , can’t remember anything?” Karkat asked. He couldn’t believe even Kankri was being that stupid.

“No.” Kankri stood and turned to walk away from Karkat, toward the river. “I’m saying what if? What if we’re walking into a trap or some ambush and these people have something to do with it. You heard the Zahhaks and Maryams, they remember things. Things that we can’t remember.”

“So?”

“So…” Kankri rounded on Karkat. “They’ve got an advantage on us. They know things we don’t.”

“But they told us what they knew.” Karkat said.

“And what if they’re not telling us everything?”


	9. Aloe Vera

By the time Karkat, Kankri and Equius had returned to camp, everyone had already returned from their chores. Signless beckoned his two companions over to his side, but stop once he saw them. A frown crossed his lips and he looked to Dolorosa for a moment.

“I thought I had told you three to stay in the shade?” Darkleer asked, looking up from counting figs.

Karkat pursed his lips. “Equius knocked down a tree.”

For the next few minutes, Karkat explained, as thoroughly as he could, the course of events that led to their round of sunburns. Equius, in a bout of trying to show off his immense strength (something the Vantas boys refused to believe was a thing) began doing pull ups. Granted, those pull ups were using a low hanging branch over the river, but Equius didn’t mind.

“And then the whole tree uprooted and fell into the river. “ Karkat said, trying his hardest not to rub or pick at the red burn all over his body.

“That…” Signless started, “is ridiculous.”

“And regardless, what would possess you three to loiter around in the sun long enough to get a burn like that?” Darkleer asked.

“Kankri began asking me questions and insisted I answer them before we made our way back here,” Equius said in a very matter-of-fact tone. Signless glared at Kankri who, in turn, slid behind Karkat and Equius as to avoid the gaze. Signless sighed.

“It’s alright,” Karkat said. “How bad can a sunburn be?”

Dolorosa sighed and got up. “Do not be so nonchalant about this dear. Our people are not used to exposure to the sun.”

“And how do you know that?” Kankri asked, a harsh tone masking any curiosity with his nasty suspicions. Signless continued to glare at him.

“Chalk it up to intuition,” Porrim said. She had managed to distract Kankri just enough to let Dolorosa inspect his blistered skin. She smirked as Kankri stared at her.

“And what’s that supposed to mean?” Kankri asked, eyes narrowed, arms crossed. He hissed as Dolorosa prodded his shoulder, the burn stinging worse than a hornet. “Gah! Is that necessary?”

“Very much so,” Dolorosa said. “I think I have something for you boys. Don’t worry.”

“And what’s _that_ supposed to mean?” Kankri spat, craning his head around to watch Dolorosa inspect Equius and Karkat.

“Hush child,” Dolorosa said, patting Kankri’s back.

Kankri hissed. Burn or no burn, he did not like to be touched. The fact that he was reddening like a ripening tomato did not help matters. Dolorosa rolled her eyes and retreated to the edge of camp. Glancing over the variety of cacti and desert scrub, she found what she was looking for.

“I think it would be best if you three,” Dolorosa said to the three boys, “would stay in the shade after I apply this…” She stood and turned to them, hands full of an odd spiny plant.

“What are you going to do with that?” Kankri asked, a slight shake to his voice. His eyes were wide even though the fleshy green cacti weren’t nearly as dangerous looking as some of the other desert flora.

“I’m going to mash it up and make you something to alleviate the pain.” Dolorosa said, sitting down at a log. Reaching to her side, she pulled the smooth stone she had done laundry on earlier into her lap. Everyone watched as she broke open the aloe plants she had gathered up and made a pale green slurry.

“Are you really expecting me to trust a stranger with plant mush to treat my burns?” Kankri asked, elbowing Karkat in the arm.

“Are you really asking me or are you just trying to validate your increasingly obnoxious paranoia?” Karkat asked in turn. Kankri grew red-faced, even more so despite the sun burn and huffed.

Porrim had been watching Dolorosa, but noticed the Vantas boys elbowing each other soon enough. She snickered. “Gosh Kankri, if you really want a reason to not trust us, we can always have Darkleer pop your head like a pimple.”

“No!”

“Now, now Porrim,” Dolorosa said, still mashing the aloe.

“I’m not much for… violence Miss. Please don’t insinuate such things,” Darkleer said, finishing his fig rationing, a slight blue tint to his cheeks. He avoided everyone’s gaze. No. He did not want attention right now, especially not with a stupid threat floating about. Especially with Signless kneeling next to him, taking a fig.

Especially because of that.


	10. A Series of Stunning Developments

The massive man with broad blue-grey shoulders awoke with a heaving chest and a cold sweat. Darkleer looked around, trying to remember… remember… He held his head in his clammy hand and shook a little. Was that a dream? He tried to convince himself it was.

But no.

That was a memory.

Rubbing his face in the pre-dawn light of the desert, he lay back down on the bed of reeds he and the Dolorosa had been working on the day prior. He laid down and huffed a little, trying to wipe the memory and the sound and the sight and the…

He looked over to where Signless was sleeping, Kankri and Karkat under each of his arms. Sighing, he mouthed the words ‘sorry’ and closed his eyes, trying to sleep again.

***

The slender woman with an almost beak-like nose and slightly greying hair awoke with a snap of her eyelids. Dolorosa stared up into the fig trees above her, the branches illuminated in the gold of dawn. A small sigh escaped her and she sat up, rubbing her forehead just a bit. The cloud of amnesia was still there. Not that it mattered. There were trolls to take care of and that meant starting the day early.

She looked to her side and noticed Darkleer tossing about in his sleep.

“Poor fellow. Sleeping on the ground must wreck his back.”

***

The short and lean man with a strong brow and wavy hair awoke to the sensation of two wriggling piles of Vantas under his arms. Sighing with a smile, Signless opened his eyes and hugged Karkat and Kankri a little. Just a little. He saved his energy to ruffle their mops of wavy hair.

“Come on you two. Up and at ‘em. We’ve got to start the day sometime.” Signless smiled and sat up, wiggling out of the grip of two sleepy, clingy trolls.

Karkat groaned a little and Kankri whined, but with a little more hair ruffling, Signless managed to get the two of them to open their eyes.

***

That was the usual morning for the three adults. ‘Usual’ meaning when Darkleer was woken up by his nightmares. Some nights he got lucky and dreamed of horses. Horses and robotics. And through those infrequent dreams he started to remember more than just his violent past. He had talents too. He had talents that could definitely help his group of trolls.

Darkleer threw down the dead boar next to his tent and beams. Equius followed behind him, leaving the underbrush, carrying Darkleer’s makeshift bow and quiver. He didn’t look well. Regardless, Karkat walked over to him and smiled.

“I’d hug you Eq if you weren’t such a gross sweaty mess,” Kakrat said, tapping the dead boar with his foot.

Equius, shrugged. “I can understand why. Please don’t fret…” He was wringing his hands and kept shooting Karkat a glare over the rims of his sunglasses.

“Uh huh…” Karkat said, watching Darkleer go off to fetch his tools to string up the boar. “Is something wrong you blundering idiot or did you get something in your eye?”

Equius bit his lip a little. “I need to talk to you later. Id that okay Karkat, or should we find a more acceptable time to talk in private?”

“I don’t see what’s so bad about talking now,” Karkat said, shrugging and tapping the boar with his foot again.

“I wish to see you in private is all.”

“Uh huh… well we’ll see. Maybe if the trio of geezers isn’t harping about keeping together, we can sneak off for a while.” Karkat said with a shrug. Equius nodded in response and watched as Darkleer came over to string up the boar and let it bleed out.

It was a good thing his talents included hunting. Meat was scarce and all nine trolls loved him all the more for Darkleer’s ability to provide something other than figs. And for whatever reason, figs and boars when cooked just right happened to make an excellent meal. The nine of them couldn’t wait for that plump desert boar to bleed out and the chance to have a decent meal.

When Equius was finished helping Darkleer skin the beast, he tapped Karkat’s shoulder. Karkat winced. “Hey! Tree-destroyer extraordinaire, newsflash: you could kill someone by pinching them. So you might have just broken a few bones!” Karkat hissed in disdain and pain, rubbing his bruised shoulder.

“Nonsense. I restrained myself an incredible amount to garner your attention.” Equius looked Karkat’s twisted face over. “Do not make it out worse than it is, you are only wasting time. I still wish to speak to you in private.”

“Yeah? And what? You think I’m going to wander off into the desert with my attacker?” Karkat whined, still rubbing his shoulder.

“I am not your attacker. And besides, this is important,” Equius said. “You are the only person who has shown any interest in regaining our memories.”

“Untrue.” Karkat said, finally easing most of the pain out his shoulder. “You’re thinking of loudmouth Vantas. I’m only his ‘inferior genetic farce of a double’ or whatever it is that fuckwit called me.”

“Yes, but that ‘fuckwit’ as you call him is most unbearable. That is why I came to you.” Equius said, wringing his hands a little and dropping to a whisper. Cussing was most unprofessional and unbecoming after all. Bouncing on his heels a bit, Equius waited for Karkat to resign to walking away from camp with him. Once out of sight and earshot, he turned to Karkat and frowned.

“What? You look constipated.” Karkat said with a snort.

“It’s not that at all.”

“Then what _is_ it?” Karkat asked, huffing a little.

Equius sighed. “Two things happened when we went hunting. Darkleer told me something and…” Equius trailed off, his worlds mumbling into nothingness as he continued to wring his hands. His brow furrowed. His eyes, though hidden behind his glasses, were focused on the ground. He was covered in a slight sweat.

“Out with it Eq!” Karkat said, voice hinting at exasperation.

“Darkleer said he’s been having dreams of killing Signless. He thinks it’s a memory.” Equius blurted it out rather quickly, his sweating only growing worse, his eyes snapping up to meet Karkat’s.

Those grey eyes, often hidden under a Kankri-induced scowl, were wide. Wide in shock and sudden fear. Karkat stood there for a moment, mouth agape. “What’s… what’s the second thing you wanted to tell me?”

“Oh… that…” Equius said, finally taking off his glasses. “You might like this bit of news…” Equius said, a nervous chuckle escaping him.

“Well? Out with it!” Karkat barked.

Equius smiled a little. “We came across the most peculiar thing when we went hunting.”

“You mean other than Horuss’ awful grin?” Karkat asked, scoffing.

Equius shook his head, smirking a bit. “No, not that.”

“Then what?”

“We saw other trolls. Nine more.”

 


	11. A Sudden Slip Up

The possibility of even more trolls put Karkat’s head into a whirlwind. His jaw dropped. Gulping, he composed himself as best he could and chuckled. It was a half genuine, mostly nervous sound, escaping him without much thought.

“You’re joking,” he said, shaking his head at Equius.

“I assure you I am not.”

“Bull.”

“That is not an appropriate reaction to the situation at hand Vantas,” Equius said, clenching his fists. This was nerve wracking as it was. There was no reason Karkat needed to add problems on top of it.

“Well, what do you expect me to say?” Karkat asked. “Do you want me to jump up and down and run to that gaggle of incompetent adults, asking them to approach these strangers?”

“No.”

“Then what is it blue boy?” Karkat asked, his voice a little lower, his brow furrowed. “What did you expect me to do?”

“I expected you to be excited. I had expected you to act like the leader I know you can be and plan a way for you and myself to approach these people,” Equius said. “That is, if that’s what you want to do.”

Karkat stared at Equius for a moment. That was… more than unexpected. Act like a leader? Why in the world would anyone want Karkat to act like a leader. He knew no one want Mr. McShouty to lead. He knew, somewhere deep down in his heartguts that he’d only let someone, if not everyone down as a ‘leader.’

Karkat snorted.

“What?” Equius asked, stepping back.

“I just don’t get it,” Karkat said, shaking his head and looking at the ground. He was wearing a smile; disingenuous, but a smile nonetheless. “Why in the world would you think this would interest me at all. And no, before you ask, I don’t just mean more people. I mean the whol ‘act like a leader nonsense you just word vomited all over me.”

“Pardon?” Equius said, eyebrows pulled together in confusion. “Was it not you and the other Vantas that were trying to figure out why everyone in our group seems to be suffering from amnesia? I thought this was something of a pet project for you and Kankri.”

“I don’t do anything with Kankri,” Karkat spat. “I don’t have the time to magically summon new ears every three minutes just to deal with _him_.”

Equius huffed. “You really hate him, huh?”

“Absolutely.”

“Huh…” Equius said, pondering the situation. Shifting his weight from one foot to the other and then back, he nodded. “Very well then Karkat. That is your own relationship to handle and I shall not interfere. However, I would like to get back to the situation at hand.”

“Right. Go on…” Karkat said, crossing his arms.

“My adult, Darkleer that is, thinks I was simply seeing things in the early morning light and dismissed my claims of other trolls being afoot. “ Equius said, a little sigh escaping him. Karkat twisted his face up as he thought about it, trying to get what Equius was playing at.

“Suppose it wasn’t a deliusion,” Karkat said. “What would you want us to do about it? Signless doesn’t let me out of his sight for more than ten minutes at a time after that sunburn incident. And heck, Darkleer always has you running around with your head cut off doing chores.”

“I suppose that is true…” Equius said. “I had just thought you’d be interested in knowing about it.”

“Know about what?”

Karkat and Equius turned to see Kankri standing there on the path, amrs crossed, dusty red sweater still bright red among the desert scenery.

“Nothing,” Karkat snapped, turning to Equius in the hopes Kankri would vanish like their memories. “Don’t worry your pretty little head about what we’re doing.”

“I didn’t know you thought it was pretty,” Kankri spat, stepping closer to the other two.

“It’s not. It’s just an expression you loud-mouthed ignoramus.”

“Watch it Kitkat or you’ll end up in the river with a rock tied to your neck.”

“And how would you manage that? You couldn’t even reach my neck with a stepladder to help you,” Karkat said, chuckling as he looked down at his fellow Vantas.

“Watch it!” Kankri said, aiming a swift kick to Karkat’s shin.

Equius jumped in. Karkat stumbled back, howling in pain. Kankri sneered, even as Equius’ rough hand pressed him back and bruised his shoulder.

“We cannot fight. Or at least you two cannot. Do you not remember what Signless told you two the other day?” Equius asked, looking from one boy to the other.

“Was that before or after I kicked his ass for being a pompous little git?” Karkat asked, straightening up and sneering back at Kankri.

Kankri growled. Karkat snickered. Equius pursed his lips and pushed the two of them apart once more. “Enough!” he barked.

Karkat and Kankri froze.

“Karkat, we might as well tell him what’s going on. He is just as invested, if not more so, in finding out as much as we can about how and why we lost our memories,” Equius said, peering over the top of his sunglasses.

Karkat mumbled to himself for a moment. “You tell him.”

“Tell me what?” Kankri asked, tapping his foot. His lips were pursed, his arms were crossed and his face was almost as red as sweater. “This little secret of yours has dragged on long enough. Spit it out.”

Equius blushed. “Well of course. You see, I do believe I’ve found some other trolls traversing there wilds. Considering you and Karkat’s interest in finding out why everyone in our ‘commune,’ if you will, has lost their memory, I thought we could perhaps go locate them once more.”

Kankri gawked at the two of them, dropping his arms and biting his lips. He inhaled. Exhaled. Breathing a little steadier, he nodded once and blinked. “That was a horribly unfunny joke.”

Karkat groaned. “It wasn’t a joke you self-righteous chute licking fuckwit.”

The squabbling began anew.

Equius pinched the bridge of his nose and grumbled t himself a bit, sweating not only in the heat but out of stress. He pushed the two of them apart again and sighed.

“Enough!” he barked. “I wasn’t lying now get it through your putrid little mutant-blooded skull that there is something bigger going on here than your incessant bickering.”

Both Kankri and Karkat stopped and glared at Equius.

“What did you just call us?”


	12. Confrontational

“What did you call us?” Kankri asked again, a little more acid creeping into his voice. Even in the desert, even under the heat of an unforgiving yellow sun, even under a thick red sweater and a sunburn that could put an overripe tomato to shame, the ice in Kankri’s voice was more than chilling.

And it was refreshing.

After days, no, weeks, of empty threats and childish quarrels, both Karkat and Equius were oddly delighted to see something genuine and cold come from Kankri. Not that it was a nice thing. It was just a nice change of pace from the stuffy pretentious bastard they had come to know and love to hate.

Although hate was a strong word in regards to Kankri. Or at least it was for Equius. Karkat could hate the pint sized blabbermouth to the twin moons and back. That came naturally for him.

“I asked…” Kankri began again, slower, icier, more threatening this time. “What the _hell_ did you just call us?”

Equius stepped back and began sweating, even more so than usual for himself. And considering the heat in this place, this sandy deathtrap in the middle of hell’s asshole, that was quite a bit. “I…”

Kankri snarled. “You _what_?”

“I…” Equius stumbled as he stepped back and fell on his rear.

“Answer me!” Kankri yelled, looming over the much larger troll. “Unless you can’t, which, to be quite frank, I wouldn’t be so surprised to find out. You buffoon. Do you have any idea how detrimental and castist that was? Do you know the hardships and struggles trolls like Karkat and myself face? No. You wouldn’t. Do you know why? Because you’re a snotty little bastard sitting up there on you high horse without any regard for those who face oppression day in and day out.

“You have it easy. You have strength and prestige and people listening to you, taking everything you say to heart whether you deserve that or not. You don’t have to earn to speak. You don’t have to earn _anything._ Because all you are is a snotty little bastard sitting up there on you high horse without _any_ regard for _anyone_ who you look down on.”

Karkat stared at them both. “What… the… hell…?”

Kankri was heaving, his red face, red sunburn, red eyes and red words turning him into more than a ball of anger. For once, for once in those weeks of desert life, Kankri was a force to be reckoned with. The only question was where it all suddenly came from.

“Kankri…” Karkat mumbled, stepping forward and yanking on his shoulder, pulling him away from Equius. “Kankri… go back to camp.”

“No!” Kankri yelled. “Not until this sack of entitled shit is put in his place.”

“Kankri… go back to camp or I’ll put you in _your_ place.”

“Oh?!” Kankri stepped back, scowling at Karkat. “So you’re siding with this hemoist piece of shit?”

Karkat’s face went flat. “What does that even mean?”

Kankri froze.

Equius scrambled up now that Kankri was occupied with the current conundrum. Where _did_ all of that come from? Half of those words and terms and sentiments meant nothing to them. But then again… they did ring a bell.

“I don’t… know,” Kankri said. “It sort of just came out. I mean… it’s all true!” Kankri said, throwing up his arms, and defenses, once more. “And you know it. You both know it. He’s a hemoist asshole and that’s that.”

“What’s a hemoist?” Equius asked.

“Who knows?” Karkat said, shrugging. “He’s probably just making shit up to further fuel that victim complex of his.”

“I am not!” Kankri protested, shoving Karkat away from him and huffing. “He’s a hemoist. That’s why he called us mutant blooded freaks. And that’s wrong!”

Karkat bit his lip. Although he had not a clue, no idea, zilch, none, nada as to what Kankri had rambled off about, he knew one thing: what Equius had said hurt. A lot. Wherever that hurt came from, ‘hemoist’ or not, it was real and it made Karkat both angry and put off.

“Go back to camp.” Karkat turned to Kankri and scowled. “Now.”

“No!” Kankri said, stomping his foot. “How can you side with him when he said what he said?”

“I’m not siding with anyone you fucking idiot! Now go back to camp,” Karkat said, pointing Kankri back down the rocky path along the river. The wilds seemed silent now, save the light rustle of trees overhead and the murmur of the river.

Kankri pursed his lips. Turning on his heel, he huffed and marched away, kicking up sand and dust and a fuss as he went.

Karkat rounded on Equius and glared. He bore a hole straight through that broad shouldered boy with that look. “I don’t know why you said what you did, and I don’t know where all of his bullshit came from Zahhak… but he’s right on one thing.”

Equius gulped. “And what would that be?”

“Do not _ever_ call us that again,” Karkat said. “It was disgusting and rude and I don’t know why, but it was a pretty damned asshole thing to say.”

“I…” Equius went quiet and nodded. “I’m sorry. Shall I allow you to punish me for my offenses?” Equius asked, a little quiet but still a whole lot seriously.

Karkat sputtered and gawked. “No?!” he shouted. “I don’t need to freaking punish you or whatever… Just… don’t do it again.”

“Yes. Of course. My apologies…” Equius mumbled, straightening out and nodding.

Karkat huffed. “Shall we just get back to the problem at hand?”

“Yes of course. We must think through our course of action considering these new trolls,” Equius said, calming down a bit. “What did you have in mind for this?”

Karkat paused and pursed his lips. No. He did not want to be saddled with the responsibility of figuring out how to approach new people. Not when Signless and Darkleer and especially Dolorosa would have killed him if they knew he was sneaking off to do something that could easily backfire.

A voice called out from down the path. “Hey! What have you two done?”

Equius and Karkat turned to see Kanaya, arms crossed in front of her chest, brows contorted in a scowl and pale complexion tinted jade in the heat of her anger, stalking down the path toward them.

“Oh for the love of… what now?” Karkat grumbled.


	13. A Deal

Kanaya stopped in front of the two of them, staring at Karkat and Equius. After a moment of awkward, she heaved a sigh. Both boys looked at her, brows arched up. It was hot, there was the lingering threat of a sunburn and the three of them were just standing there. Karkat had enough of the awkward.

“So what’s going on? Are you here to chide us for something yet again being invariably our fault? Or are you just going to stand there with an air of superiority and hold it over our heads?” Karkat asked.

“What?” Kanaya asked, taking a half-step back. “Where did all of that come from?”

Equius interjected, a finger held up to Karkat to prevent any further arguments. “We just had a rather odd confrontation with the older Vatnas, Kankri, and he’s a bit riled up.”

“Ahh…” Kanaya said, tilting her head back a bit as the words escaped her. “That makes sense.”

“Yeah and it leaves so much out of the equation.” Karkat huffed and crossed his arms.

“Oh? Then do go on and tell me what’s upset you so much Mr. Vantas,” Kanaya said, looking down her nose and smiling at Karkat.

“I don’t think I want to,” Karkat said, turning to Equius and scowling some, as if to tell him they needed to get out of there before another blabber mouth found out about Equius’s discovery. Especially when it was someone so chummy with the adults as Kanaya.

“Oh?” Kanaya turned to Equius. “What’s going on Mr. Zahhak? Come on Equius, you can tell me.”

Equius froze and began sweating, even more so than usual.

“Don’t tell her anything Equius,” Karkat said, his snippy tone cutting through the thin desert air. Kanaya’s brow jumped and she smiled wide.

“So you two are really hiding something?” Kanaya laughed a bit and tapped a foot on the gravel. “That would explain why Kankri was stalking back to camp as if his pants were tied in a knot around his bulge.”

Equius choked on a laugh.

Both Kanaya and Karkat turned to him, a little surprised that he, of all people, would find this, if anything, funny. Equius, in turn, froze, the tips of his ears darkening. A deep cobalt flush sprawled across his cheeks and he dropped his head, eyes locked on the ground for a few awkward moments.

“My apologies,” he murmured.

Karkat scoffed. “There isn’t any reason to apologies Eq… calm the fuck down. It was funny and that’s that.”

“Okay before we get all caught up in a rambling sidetracking, can you honestly just tell me what is going on right now?” Kanaya asked, shifting both Karkat’s and Equius’s attention back to the matter at hand.

Their secret.

Their secret-y secret.

Karkat groaned. “Do I have to tell you?”

“Yes,” Kanaya said. “Otherwise I’ll tell Dolorosa and Darkleer and Signless that you two are plotting to kill all of us in our sleep in order to have an ample supply of meat for the foreseeable future.”

“That’s utterly repulsive,” Equius said, crossing his arms over his chest and scowling some. The thought that… Equius shuddered. It was bad enough he was relegated to eating wild boar meat these past few days but…

“Yo, ponyboy!” Karkat snapped his fingers in front of Equius’s face in order to snap him out of his disgust-fueled trance. “Pay attention. We’ve got to decide if we let madam nosy-pants in on our thing.”

“Yes, our thing,” Equius repeated, nodding slowly.

“Right,” Karkat said, a little angry huff escaping him. Kicking at the gravelly ground, he sighed. “Crap. It looks I’m resigning to my fate of letting you in on our plans and discovery even though the chance you’d fuck it all up is stellar.”

“Come again?” Kanaya said, prodding Karkat’s shoulder.

“Don’t touch me,” Karkat hissed.

Equius nodded. “I must agree. Don’t violate another’s personal space.”

“You two are derailing again,” Kanaya said.

“Fine!” Karkat shouted, scaring a few birds from a nearby fig tree. “Equius had spotted another group of trolls while he was out hunting and me and him were thinking of going to look for them.”

At that moment there was a sudden silence in that little shady spot by the river. Kanaya’s eyed widened. Equius looked down again, a dejected look giving away his feeling of personal failure away. Karkat continued to kick at the gravelly ground.

“So…” Kanaya said after a few awkward moments. “When are you guys going to go troll hunting?”

“It’s not troll hunting,” Equius interjected.

“Shush, keep to the subject at hand,” Karkat said, waving his hand in Equius’s face.

Equius nodded. “My apologies Sir.”

“Don’t call me that,” Karkat snapped.

“My apologies…”

Karkat glared at Equius and once again the little enclave in the shade fell silent.

“Anyway…” Kanaya said, huffing a bit and pinching the bridge of her nose. “So you think there’s more trolls out there in the desert?”

“Affirmative,” Equius said.

“And what are you going to do about it?” Kanaya asked.

The two boys stood there, silent for another moment. Blinking, Karkat heaved a sigh and slumped forward. “We were just discussing this when you decided to barge on into our personal discussion.”

“There’s nothing personal about this discussion at hand. And unless you would like Signless and Darkleer to know you two are suffering from heat exhaustion and are hallucinating things, I suggest you let me in on this.” Kanaya smirked and stood up a little straighter.

“And why do you even care so much?” Karkat asked, slumping a bit more in defeat.

“Well,” Kanaya said, tapping her chin with a lithe finger. “I’m sick and tired of mending clothes with Dolorosa and picking figs. I’d rather actually _do_ something for a change.”

Karkat huffed but Equius patted his shoulder in a sad attempt at consolation. All he managed was a large reddening bruise under Karkat’s shirt. The short boy howled.

“My apologies!” Equius said, backing off, hands up in defense.

“Oh shut your trap!” Karkat said, rubbing his shoulder and whining. Kanaya rushed forward and looked over the sore, much to a muttering Karkat’s displeasure.

“So it’s a deal then?” Kanaya asked, rubbing a little aloe she fetched from a nearby plant. “You let me in on whatever it is you do about these new trolls and I won’t say anything to the fussy, wrinkly bunch?”

“Fine.”


	14. Night Time Trek

Karkat huffed, as per the usual, as Equius and Kanaya talked in hushed tones at dinner. He picked at the roasted figs Dolorosa had prepared for them and sighed. Signless loked over at him, lips purse, brow furrowed. The light was starting to dwindle in there little river valley camp and the shadows, all across Singless’s distorted face made his worry all the more evident.

“Is something the matter?” he finally asked, hand on Karkat’s shoulder.

Karkat almost jumped out of his skin. Being jerked away from your own thoughts did that to a troll after all. He looked up at Signless, shrugged, and picked at his figs again. Silence.

“Karkat?” Signless poked his cheek, squishing his face ever so gently. “Talk to me.”

“It’s nothing,” Karkat mumbled.

Signless poked him again, Karkat’s cheek meat squishing in a bit more this time. He huffed and swatted Signless away, still silent. Signless huffed and poked again causing Karkat to splutter the little bit of fig in his mouth out onto his shirt.

Signless covered his own mouth, trying not to laugh.

Karkat rounded on him. “Would you cut it out you old fart?! I’m fine, now stop touching me!”

Signless sighed and crossed his arms, balancing his tree-bark plate on his lap. “Kid,” he said in his best attempt at a grownup voice, “you need to talk to me about your problems instead of letting them fester. It’s not for your—”

Dolorosa silenced Signless with a hand on his shoulder. “Enough of that dear. Karkat doesn’t need to tell you absolutely everything. Kids have these moments. Trust me.”

Signless looked up at the older woman and nodded. He sighed. “Very well.”

Karkat looked over to Dolorosa as Signless sighed and picked in his food. He mouthed a sincere ‘thank you’ and resumed poking at his dinner. The food was getting better nowadays, what with Dolorosa finding more and more edible plants, herbs and roots mostly, but Karkat wasn’t hungry.

There was this bubbling feeling in his gut now that the day was drawing to a close. Equius and Kanaya had decided (with enough arguing on Karkat’s part to draw the conversation out for almost an hour) that the three of them should move out as soon as possible. The possibility that these other trolls would be on the move was high. There wasn’t much outside of the fig orchard that could support a troll for too long.

Karkat sighed and looked up through the net of fig tree branches. It was getting dark. It was getting close to that time where Dolorosa and Signless would corral everyone into the makeshift lean-tos propped against the sandy boulders.

Thank goodness for the Zahhaks and their otherworldly strength. No one else could move stone like they could. No one could piece together shelter like they could.

Karkat sighed and stood, taking his plate and walking over to the riverside.

He needed time to think.

***

It was truly, one hundred percent dark. Night had come in with a cool breeze, the desert insects releasing their cacophony as soon as everyone was nestled into their sleeping spots. That had become their chittering, cheeping, peeping lullaby every night.

Kanaya was the first to move, gathering a satchel woven of soft tree bark and rushing to wake Karkat. He, on the other hand, was already ready, his own pack hidden under his body away from the sight of the adults.

The two of them, silently, quickly, rushed to Equius, prodding his shoulder to jerk him from his light slumber. He huffed and almost smacked one of them. But he remembered his strength. He had to. Especially now.

The three of them rushed away from camp, hiding under the ragtag clothes Dolorosa had managed to stitch together over the past few days. How the woman knew how to do what she did was a mystery. But then again most everything was a mystery these days.

Especially now that they were hunting a new set of trolls; trolls who may or may not have had answers to where their memories had gone.

The three of them trudged along the riverside, hidden in the cover of night. Equius led the way, bringing them down the trails he and Darkleer followed when hunting boar. Upriver. Kanaya hummed a bit, and the sound carried over the night breezes.

For a little while anyway.

Karkat hissed, trying to get Kanaya to quiet as a light flickered through the brush. The three of them trudged forward, ever silent, ever careful. Equius pushed the brush aside in such a way as to keep them hidden but not deter their movement.

They stopped as they stared through a net of branches, and Karkat huffed.

“Why do those three have fins?”


	15. Another Nine

“Are you sure that those are fins and not just some cosmetic alteration?”

“I am one hundred percent sure that those idiots have fins and are not just some vain anomalies on this side of nowhere,” Karkat said, almost hissing as he tried to keep quiet.

He, Kanaya and Equius squatted down in some prickly desert bushes, watching the little circle of trolls around their campfire. Quiet was their best friend right then and there. Unfortunately for them they weren’t the greatest at it. But they tried. And everyone deserves an A for effort, right?

Wrong. If Equius hadn’t caught Karkat by the arm as he tripped forward, Mr. McShouty wouldn’t have yelped in pain. And had Karkat not yelped in pain, Kanaya wouldn’t have smacked him upside the head. Had Kanaya not done that, Equius wouldn’t have shushed her loud enough to scare a bird in its nest.

And had Equius not done that, Karkat wouldn’t have hissed his discontent on to the night, thus alerting the new group of trolls to their presence.

Luck for those three bumbling idiots that the group they were spying on were an even bigger group of idiots.

Not a single troll of the nine of them noticed the noisy bush. Not a single one, among the grumpy older gentleman decked in purple, the three with massive horns, or even the girls in the pirate outfits were disturbed by the shaking branched or whispering leaves.

Granted, the majority of them were entangled in an argument.

Karkat, Kanaya, and Equius calmed themselves after a moment (or several) of their frenzied stupidity.

“Okay you blunders of trollkind, shut up and listen,” Karkat barked, voice low and barely above a whisper now. “We are going to sit here on our hands like good little wigglers and shut the fuck up so we can watch these weirdos without tipping them off. I don’t know what kind of miraculous happenings of the cosmic variety just saved out asses from being discovered, but like hell am I about to pass by the opportunity and second chance we’ve just been granted. Now shut the fuck up.”

“Are you finished yet with your lecture?” Kanaya asked, face impassive, expression giving away just how unimpressed with Karkat’s little speech.

Karkat blushed a deeper red and huffed, swiveling on his behind to peer through the knot of branches and desert foliage. He had business to attend to at the moment. No snarky female with freckles of jade was about to change that fact.

***

Fins flicked as he watched them mack all over each other. Really, it was a disgusting display. Tawdry. Unrelenting in its contrived nature. He let out a sigh.

“Would you two kindly demagnetize your lips and get your shit together. Dinner is getting cold,” he said, voice tired, low and ever so similar to gravel. The accent was heavy. He looked up from his large leaf of fire roasted fish and dates.

Mindfang pushed herself off of her boy toy and smirked, looking back at the elder troll. “Oh, is this bothering you? Are your delicate chef sensibilities damaged now that you’ve seen two attractive adults engage in fun age appropriate activities?”

Dualscar scowled and ragged a calloused hand down his face. “It would be a whole lot different if you weren’t using those glowy mind powers on the poor sap.”

“Oh come off of it you wizened old fool,” Mindfang scoffed, waving a hand to dismiss Dualscar. “He just needed some coaching into the kiss.”

“Yeah…” Summoner said, eyes glazed, lips parted, his whole body slumped forward a bit. Mind control had one hell of an effect on a guy.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah… you poor dumb sucker…” Dualscar said, mumbling into his dinner. After a moment, he looked up and looked around his campsite, squinting in the direction of a suspicious shrub. Shrugging, he turned his attentions back to the slobbering knot that was Mindfang and Summoner.

He rolled his eyes and went back to his food.

It ould take another several minutes before anything exciting happened. And of course, Dualscar short up, at attention, swiping the big blue rifle off of his back as two trolls tussled out of the bushes.

“Get off of me!” a boy yelled, his hands swatting out in front of him, only to come back around and smack himself in the face.

The girl laughed. “Why are you hitting yourself? Huh? Why are you hitting yourself?”

“Vriska!” Dualscar shouted, stepping forward to yank the girl off of Tavros. She yelped and kicked her legs, nailing Dualscar right in the shin.

He howled.

Mindfang and Summoner decided it was time to unlock their lips and address the situation. Summoner let out a weak chuckle and waved his hand. “Let her go frilly gills,” Summoner drawled out. “The boy needs a god influence on him. He can stand to build some character.”

“Build some…” Dualscar spluttered a bit and tossed Vriska aside. “Man do you _listen_ to yourself? Wake up!” Dualscar clapped his hands once, the campsite echoing with a loud crack. “This kid that looks like you is getting his ass handed to him by the chick that looks like the witch you’re snogging. Do something!”

Mindfang hissed and Summoner scowled. “You better shut your mouth fishboy…” Summoner said in a low growl.

Of course it wouldn’t come to blows. Not with another rustling of bushes and yet two more trolls appearing. This time it was two boys, one swatting away the other gently, trying to get him to back off. “Cronus I told you I don’t want to hear your songs, alright?”

“Come on chief, don’t be like that…” Cronus said, reaching out to clutch at Rufioh’s shoulder.

Nitram proceeded to roll his shoulder and pull away from Cronus, trying his best all the while to keep his head down. “Don’t touch me…”

Cronus, of course, wouldn’t dream of listening. “Come on Ru… there ain’t nothing wrong with a little bit of friendly reassuring touches.” Cronus grinned and patted Rufioh’s shoulder again.

Rufioh spun, facing Cronus as he backed away, hands up. “C’mon doll, I asked all nice like. Can we just not do this… tonight. Again? Can’t you just leave me be?”

Dualscar watched the two boys, dragging a hand down his face, eyes trained on Cronus. “Junior! Leave the boy alone. You’re being an embarrassment to me and yourself. Cut the shit.”

“But Dualscarrr…” Cronus whined, slumping as Rufioh made a quick getaway, grabbing Tavros off the ground. The two of them rushed to the other end of the clearing, Rufioh checking over Tavros’s bumps and bruises.

Dualscar wasn’t having any of this nonsense with Cronus however. He grabbed him by the fin and yanked him over to a fallen log where moments earlier Dualscar had been trying to enjoy his meager meal. He pushed Cronus down and huffed. “Boy, you don’t make any of this easy, do you? It’s bad enough I’ve got to look out for the buffoon’s two boys and make sure the wench’s littlest one isn’t killing anyone… but you? I expect better from you. You’re better than chasing after someone like that. Now start acting like it.”

Dualscar swatted Cronus upside the head, ringed fingers causing a bit of a bruise on the younger boy’s scalp. Cronus winced and nodded. “Sorry Sir.”

Dualscar huffed and turned, notng that Summoner and Mindfang were still too busy snogging to handle the situation. Of course. Dualscar, in a bout of habit, dragged his hands down his face and groaned some. “Fine…”

He turned to see two more trolls arrive. Of course. Aranea and Eridan, talking in hushed tones, trading glasses and looking over a little journal. Dualscar tilted his head up, looking down at Eridan in those all too feminine glasses with a glint of disdain in his eyes.

“Boy!” Dualscar barked. “Where have you been?”

Eridan blinked and quickly removed his glasses, huffing in Dualscar’s direction as he handed them back to Aranea. He sulked a bit and then walked over, flopping down next to Cronus. “I’m fine you know, old man.”

“That’s not what I asked kid,” Dualscar said, grabbing Eridan’s fin between his thumb and forefinger. “Where have you been with the Serket girl?”

Eridan yelped. “We were just out looking for more fruit! And she was showing me all the stories and stuff she had in her journal! Gosh! Let my ear go!!!” Eridan whined, flailing a bit as Dualscar let him down.

“Kid, I told you. We aren’t cut out for this desert nonsense. So you’ve got to stop wandering off; especially with lasses with them mindfuckery powers. Got it?”

“But Aranea is nice,” Eridan mumbled, sighing. “Fine. Whatever. You’re just jealous cause her stories aren’t boring as hell.”

“What did you say punk?” Dualscar growled, grabbing Eridan’s fin again.

“Nothing!”

“That’s what I thought,” Dualscar said. Sighing, he ruffled Eridan’s hair and reached over to flick Cronus’s fin as he snickered.

“What the hell was that for?” Cronus shouted.

“Don’t go taking any pleasure from this. I don’t need to be responsible for a sadist.” Dualscar smirked and nudged Cronus. He laughed a sigh escaping him now.

“Get your grubby hands off of me old man!” Cronus whined, leaning away from Dualscar.

Eridan rolled his eyes.

For a little while they sat in silence, the only sound being the occasional sloppy suckling noise from the pirate and her warrior prince. The rest of the camp just side-eyed them and tried to resume dinner. Aranea smiled though as Dualscar handed her a large leaf with fire-roasted fish on it.

“I don’t see why everyone is so against hearing my stories,” she said as they sat around the fire.

“Perhaps it’s because you’re the biggest windbag this side of a tornado,” Cronus said dully, rolling his eyes as he stared at his meal. Dualscar slapped him upside the head once more.

“Well excuse me for wanting to share my memories,” Aranea said with a sigh.

The bushes rustled again and Dualscar jumped up, his rifle at the ready. “What the hell was that?”


	16. A Scolding

The three kids froze. Had they been found out? The rattling in the bushes slowed and a breeze picked up, cold and relentless as night rolled in off the desert. Dualscar lowered his weapon and the camp of new trolls resumed their routine.

Karkat received a punch from a peeved Kanaya and a glare concealed by dark glasses from Equius.

“What the hell is your issue?” Kanaya hissed, her voice barely audible about the wind whipped bushes.

Karkat dropped his gaze, staring at the ground and shrinking in on himself some. This new girl, dressed in blue and wearing those white-framed lenses, she could have the answers. The ones he and Kankri had fought over. The ones Signless had kept them from looking for in order to focus on surviving.

Karkat had held a bit of a grudge because of it. He understood what his elder meant. Kankri? Not so much. Karkat would ask something about how Signless could handle the sun or why his eyes were such a bright red or why he called Dolorosa ‘mother’ but…

Karkat pushed it out of his mind.

He had collected enough firewood. He had picked enough figs and helped wash enough of their rags. Karkat wasn’t tired in a way that would show up with bags under his eyes. No. Exasperation bubbled up in him, a glint in his eyes now that he heard that blue girl mention the thing he wanted more than anything. Arguably even more so than Kankri.

Yet… it seemed so distant. Beyond the prickly shrubs and undergrowth and cacti…. Across this mental mile of unknowing… Karkat grumbled and rubbed his temples. It was almost too much to handle at the moment. Almost. He pushed past Kanaya and then Equius.

“I’m going to make first contact and nothing either of you two say is going to stop me,” Karkat said, grumbling. He was still quiet, much to his own confusion, but he didn’t care. When he did care is when a hand grabbed him by the back of the neck and wrenched him back. Another, equally forceful hand, came up around his face and muffled his shouts into near nothingness.

Kanaya and Equius spun, looking through the dark of the desert to see Darkleer, Kankri and Signless looming over them in the night. Signless was struggling with a despondent Karkat, of course, and growled lowly.

“Kid you better cut the shit or I swear to god that Zahhak’s strength is going to be the last thing to bruise your scrawny ass,” Signless hissed. He shook his hand as Karkat bit him. “Fucking wriggler…”

Darkleer swooped in. Beyond the brush, Dualscar was pacing ever closer to their hiding spot. Darkleer noticed this, scooped up the remaining two kids, and bolted. Signless and Kankri weren’t too far behind. Kankri though, in a moment of stupidity and curiosity, turned to watch Dualscar crash through the bushes while on the hunt for the intruders.

Firelight hit his eyes and they flashed.

Dualscar stepped back. In a moment lacking any clarity, he shit his rifle. The beam of white light zapped through the bushes, through the trees and… off to the side. He may have been an expert marksman in his past life, but Dualscar was far too easily spooked at the moment.

Dualscar’s camp jumped.

Darkleer picked up the pace, grabbing Signless around the waist as he latched onto Kankri.

***

They decided to keep the fire out. They decided that as much as the kids needed reprimanding, they really didn’t need to risk being tracked by the other group. Especially considering the large troll with the mean look about his face had a weapon that could obliterate a boar from five hundred yards away.

“You’re all in the deepest of shit right now,” Signless growled, pinching his nose and shaking his head. His everything ached after Darkleer had scooped him up and ran through the underbrush like some shadowy, silent giant.

Kanaya and Karkat and Kankri were also bruised from the display of blueblood strength. But they remained quiet. They had to. The adults had made it very clear they weren’t above using a Zahhak to inflict discipline. Or at least… they were willing to threaten it.

Horuss got up, rubbing his eyes and searching around for his goggles. At the sight, Darkleer rumbled and walked over to him. “Don’t you worry none about this boy. Go back to sleep.”

The littler Zahhak looked up and yawned. Mumbling a quick ‘Yes Sir’ he flopped back down. It was past midnight by this point. No one really wanted to be awake. Not even the scolding adults. Not even the rambunctious children receiving the scolding.

“What were you three even thinking?” Signless asked, almost pleading now. Even in the low light coming in from the stars, the lines in his face were evident. Being caught between crying and screaming was not a good look on him.

“They weren’t,” Kankri said in a matter-of-fact tone.

“QUIET!” Signless roared, shaking. “You all saw what that man was capable of. You could have been _killed._ ”

The sound of Signless’s voice, crying out ‘killed’ as if he were saying it with his last breath, froze everyone. Darkleer looked up, brow distorted in sorrow. Dolorosa reached out, her hand looking frail and papery in the night, to grab Signless.

“Calm down… please Kan…” she whispered.

Everyone stared.

“What did you just call me?” Signless mumbled, turning to Dolorosa.

She stood there, silent, a waif in the night wind. The color in her face, as if there was any compared to her pewter complexioned friends, drained away. “I…”

“Mom?” Signless said, the hurt and uncertainty melting away from his face.

This was unacceptable. Darkleer reached out and grabbed the other adults, swinging them away from the kids sitting on the log, looking up at them. “Enough of this. We have more important things to tend to.”

“Ouch…” Signless whimpered at the touch. Dolorosa pried her arm free from Darkleer’s grip and pulled Signless from him soon after. She squinted at him and huffed.

“What’s the meaning of such behavior?” Dolorosa asked, her voice coming out in a maternal hiss, making Darkleer shrink back. “Don’t you ever grab a lady like that young man.”

“I’m arguably older than yourself…” Darkleer said, his voice almost lost on the night air.

“I don’t care,” Dolorosa spat. “Apologize!”

Darkleer squeaked. The giant blueblood with a grip that could crush stone _squeaked._ “I’m sorry!”

The kids started snickering. Even though Signless and Dolorosa were hushed about the whole thing, even with their backs turned, they couldn’t keep anything from those nosey cretins they were tasked with watching.

“Hush you four!” Dolorosa said, looking over her shoulder at them. “You’re still in a lot of trouble!”


	17. A Matter of Discussion

That previous night had been a mess of scolding, arguments and disappointment all around. At the end of it all, Dolorosa had barked, marching everyone off to bed, Signless and Darkleer including. The sight was unbelievable. Two grown men, one massive, the other tiny, both hunched over in the same pose of defeat as they shuffled to their makeshift beds.

When morning came it was full of thin air and thin light and a meager breakfast. Everyone seemed to be the victim of Dolorosa’s punishment at this rate. She was seething, angry for not catching the kids for breaking curfew, angry at Signless and Darkleer for catching the kids for breaking curfew, and angry at the kids for doing a whole hell of a lot more than breaking curfew.

“All of you, finish your breakfast and hurry. There is a lot of laundry in your future." She pointed to Karkat, Equius and Kanaya. They mumbled in defeat and hunger as she stood. Beckoning Signless and Darkleer to join her, they went to the riverside, out of earshot of the children.

“We have a problem it seems,” Signless said, breaking the moment of silence as the water rushed by.

“Indeed,” Darkleer intoned, his sullen and slightly fearful eyes avoiding Dolorosa.

“Yes, yes we all know this. Now…” she rubbed her hands together, as if plotting a scheme or to get warm. “What are we going to do about this sudden change of the proverbial winds of fortune?”

Darkleer and Signless both blinked.

“What do you think we should do ma’am?” Signless asked. Darkleer nodded like a lost puppy in agreement. Dolorosa, conceding that she had suddenly assumed the leadership role (curse that sharp tongue and quick wit) and thus the responsibilities of decision making, pinched her nose.

“Let me think,” she said, closing her eyes. A moment of silence crept up on them and hung in the air. This wasn’t easy in the slightest.

“We should go back to greet them of course!” Kankri said, weaseling his way into the circle of adults. Dolorosa glared at him, the gold of her eyes showing all the way around her iris. Sheer, unadulterated fury.

“GET!” she shouted, the word coming out like _git._ Do not mess with mother.

Kankri stumbled back and tripped over a fallen log. He whimpered some and scrambled back, trying to get out of Dolorosa’s radius of rage. Signless snorted lightly and nodded at the jade lady of righteous motherly fury.

“Nice trick. Remember when you did that to me around my wriggling day and I fell into a pricker bush?” Signless asked with a goofy smile. Dolorosa simply nodded and pat Signless’ cheek.

“And then you had to spend the rest of the night pulling all the thorns from your cloak?” she said, chuckling like a mother does when talking about her child’s embarrassing exploits.

Darkleer simply stared at them.

It took a full minute punctuated by those two’s smiles and laughs before Darkleer placed a hand on each of their shoulders. He had wide eyes and a sudden shake in his arms.

“Are you two remembering things now? Like last night? Again?” he asked, voice low and suddenly undulating as he tried to unknot the knot in his throat. .

Both Dolorosa and Signless stopped. Neither had the gall to actually say anything, in conformation or otherwise, to Darkleer. It was another full minute before Darkleer sighed and shook his head.

“My name is Kankri,” Signless said. His voice was barely above a whisper. “Dolorosa raised me when I was a child. She… saved me. That’s all I know for sure.”

Darkleer nodded. “And my name is Horuss.”

“Odd…” Dolorosa said, fingertips covering her lips, elbow in her free hand. “My name is Porrim…”

“So what we’re saying is that we each have what? A younger version of ourselves hanging around? I find that pretty gosh darn impossible, don’t you?” Signless said. With a roll of his eyes the conversation ended. The point was moot. It was impossible.

“Maybe we named them after ourselves,” Darkleer put forth. “Perhaps they are our children?”

“There’s no time for this nonsense,” Dolorosa said. Shaking her head, a hand on each of the men’s shoulder’s, she officially ended the line of discussion. “We have a current problem at hand and we need to solve it before we get into the spooky coincidence stuff, ok?”

“Agreed,” Signless said. “Let’s see. We will have the kids tend to camp. Horuss and Porrim can manage things, they’re well behaved enough for the task. Then I believe the three of us should venture out and find those other nine trolls. Perhaps we can make first contact before that gilled fellow with the water pistol barges in on us and someone ends up hurt.”

“Agreed,” both Darkleer and Dolorosa said in unison.

Signless smiled. “I do believe my boys will be pissed off the most. They seemed most ardent about this game of remembering.”

“Well too bad for them,” Dolorosa said, crossing her arms. “Misbehaving boys get chores, not adventures. It’s really quite simple.”

“Agreed,” Signless and Darkleer said with faint smiles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a brief chapter, I know, but to prevent it from being an arduous mess of exposition, I've decided to leave the actual meeting of the two groups of trolls for the future. Will it be in the next chapter? I'm not entirely sure yet, as the outline I've used for this fic is rather flexible. 
> 
> Stay tuned. 
> 
> -Mike.


	18. Turn of Fate

Marching through the underbrush and the scrub of tangled desert plants wasn’t hard for Darkleer. Dolorosa and Signless on the other hand… let’s just say they weren’t the ones going off every day before dawn and after dusk to hunt. They weren’t used to this.

They had decided to leave Horuss and Porrim in charge. What could go wrong there? They were responsible young adults. They didn’t break curfew. They listened. At least that’s what the three adults convinced themselves of. Signless had a little bubble of shame in his gut knowing neither of his charges were very well behaved.

But he tried to understand. Memories were… fleeting for him.

“I wonder if that young girl really knows anything about what happened to the lot of us,” Signless said, snapping a branch from a fruitless fig tree that had smacked him in the hip as he walked by. The terrain, though fruitful at first, was becoming more and more antagonistic to them. Signless felt it. “I wonder if this could finally get things settled.”

“I’m more worried about that weapon you two were telling me about,” Dolorosa said, flicking a fly from her sleeve. “It sounds like the real game changer here. What if these people are violent?”

“Pfft.” Darkleer snorted at that. “Violent? So? Even if they were, from the sounds of it they’re all a bunch of imbeciles, memories or not. You saw how that winged one with the lady.” Darkleer nudged Signless lightly and the both of them snickered.

“Total fools.”

“I’m still curious.” Dolorosa said, kicking a rock as they wound through the trees. “I mean… _wings?_ Is that even possible? Are you two sure it wasn’t just a trick of the light?”

“We’re positive mom…” Signless said with a tint of a groan escaping his throat. Darkleer smirked at that. “And besides, two of them had wings. The smaller one was just… I don’t even know how to explain it. They just folded up somehow? Maybe. It was late, don’t quote me here.”

“Exactly,” Dolorosa said with an exasperated sigh. “It was late. Didn’t either of you think it suspicious at all? I mean, a whole group of people in the desert awake that late? Did that not set off any alarms?”

“I don’t know…” Darkleer mumbled, thumbing his chin for a moment. “I mean… I feel much more spry and active at night myself. That’s why I love taking my boys out to hunt so early. It just feels… right. And besides, the moon is pretty nice.”

Signless was nodding in agreement. “And with how much the sun burns the lot of us, I would rather be up at night too. I know Karkat was telling me the other day how his eyesight seems to be doing better in the dark. It’s something we should consider.”

“What’s there to consider?” Dolorosa asked. She didn’t intend to sound snippy, but her tone made both Darkleer and Signless recoil and fall quiet. She sighed. “Listen, the girls and I have no problem with the sun or the daytime.”

“So?” Signless pursed his lips some and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Haven’t you noticed that you and your girls are paler than even Kankri? Look at me and Darkleer!” Singless gestured from the giant to his diminutive self. “We’re as dark as some of these rocks. And yet… you’re with the almost white skin are telling us it’s natural to be out where our skin burns in the light?”

“What are you implying?” Dolorosa asked. “That what, we’re really nocturnal?”

“Maybe!” Signless said, voice spilling out as if he couldn’t control himself.

Then he had to control himself. Darkleer grabbed the two of them by the elbow and forced them to a stop.

They were finally there. The small clearing was just ahead. The three of them tried to hid, Darkleer crouching down behind the scrub, hunching over like some massive beast trying to hide behind two fawns. Signless and Dolorosa exchanged looks with one another and turned back to the last bit of shrubbery in front of them.

There was a silent moment, thick and heavy and hot with tension, where no one moved. Dolorosa and Signless exchanged more looks and then with a flick of his wrist, Signless pressed forward.

The clearing was empty. Signless cussed and broke through the bushes, flailing a bit in disappointment and distress.

“They were right here!” he shouted, stomping his foot once.

“Now, now… no time for a tantrum,” Dolorosa said with a chuckle.

“Mother!” Signless shouted, hands in the air. “This is serious!”

“Very serious…” Darkleer said, squatting down at the opposite end of the clearing. “There were people here. And they went through great lengths to hide their presence. They dispersed the ash from their camp fire very carefully.”

Darkleer held up his hand, little bits of ashy charcoal from a fire smearing his fingertips. He stood and swiped his palms clean of the soot.

“That’s… odd. Why would anyone do that?” Dolorosa asked.

_Click._ A long blue rifle pressed to the back of Dolorosa’s head. “It’s called an ambush love…”


	19. Disciplinary Action: Part I

“Ambush?!” Signless cried out, face flushing red, hands going up to claw at his hair. “Are you _fucking_ kidding me? Really? Are you really starting this kind of shit with us _now_?”

“Indeed,” Dualscar said, a nasty leer on his lips. “We don’t take kindly to intruders. Even if they are a group of weaklings.”

Darkleer and Dolorosa blinked, looking at each other with their hands up. Standing behind Signless was pointless. He was a tiny thing compared to the two of them, especially in Darkleer’s case. And yet, there was a fire in that short and coal-skinned troll. Behind the red eyes and the muss of hair and the stubble on his chin, there was a flame and no fancy blue gun or looming finned bastard was going to put it out.

“And who might ‘we’ be?” Signless asked, hissing some as the point of the stranger’s weapon prodded his throat.

“’We’ means me!” said a voice from the bushes. A smiling finned boy popped up from his hiding spot, a set of scars on his forehead much clearer to see in the day. His elder counterpart, whatever his name was, dragged a free hand down his face.

“I told you to stay put boy,” he growled.

The smile slid off the kid’s face and he huffed, pushing his way out of the bushes. “And I told you, we haven’t seen anyone new in _weeks_ and the last ones we found are a total bust. Those foxy ladies turned out to be a total bust. One’s a snooze fest, the other one harasses poor Tavros constantly and that one you’re constantly eyeing is always working the old man over.”

“We are _not_ discussing this now Cronus. Go back to camp.”

“Come on pops, these three look totally harmless. And besides, you even said last night none of them looked harmless. Don’t ttell me we tracked them all the way back to their camp for nothing.”

“ _Cronus!”_

“What?” Cronus asked.

Meanwhile the other three adults were snickering, Darkleer especially. Signless, taking the initiative and open opportunity, eased away from the rifle at his throat and pushed it away with a gentle prod of his fingers. He smiled.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” the attacker snapped. “You ain’t getting off the hook just cause Dualscar has a snotty little brat to deal with.”

“Oh God he’s referring to himself in the third person,” another, lighter if not nasal, voice said. A miniature version of Cronus, sporting dusty glasses and a sloppy weft of violet hair, popped out of the bushes.

“Not you too kid!” Dualscar groaned. “Eridan go back to camp.”

“What, you think I’m really going to put up with those inferior shit stains and their mental bullfuckery.” Eridan said. He snorted. “Heh… bullfuckery.”

“Ughhh will you stop with the puns, you’re killing me here,” Cronus whined.

“Problems with the kids lad?” Darkleer asked. The three trespassers though tired and a bit on edge, snickered again. Dualscar scowled, his face darkening past its grey and into violet freckles. He huffed. Signless swatted away the weapon again and stepped back. Dualscar rounded on them and glared, brows furrowed, eyes lit up with a fire that mirror that of Signless’s.

“I have had enough! Of you three and all this snickering and stalking,” Dualscar growled, jabbing the rifle at Signless’s chest. “You three are going to pay for spying on us. You know what we used to do to those accused of espionage? We gutted them…”

The rifle, blue and bright and shiny, started glowing. Dualscar’s trigger finger twitched and a mad gleam caught light in his eye, burning away any humor lingering around the situation. Both Cronus and Eridan went wide-eyed. Darkleer puffed up, trying to seem imposing. It failed. Signless gulped in the fraction of a second it took for the gun to charge. His chest was hot, not just from his beating heart and body heat, but from the crackle of energy around the weapon.

Dolorosa hissed, his complexion flashing true white, her eyes, riddled in anger and maternal righteousness, bright gold. She roared and pulled Signless back, tossing his little frame into Darkleer’s broad torso. Leaping forward, she jabbed Dualscar in the throat and knocked his rifle down so it pointed into the dirt.

He howled, “Motherfucker!”

The timing couldn’t have been more perfect. The fact that Dolorosa had inhuman speed and apparently inhuman strength made Darkleer shrink back, pulling Signless with him. Both Cronus and Eridan blinked and watched the scene unfold in abject horror.

The timing couldn’t have been more perfect. The rifle shot off, straight into the sun-baked earth. The recoil, oh lord the recoil was astounding on that god-weapon. Everyone stared as Dualscar shot up in an arch of blue white light, heading up… up…

Up…

Down…

Down… down… down…

He screamed the whole time of course, the sound not unlike a squawking sea bird. Darkleer and Signless both watched, eyes wide even in the light of day, watching as their attacker, Mr. Dualscar, went down… down…

Down… Right into the river several dozen yards through the underbrush.

“Oh _shit!_ ” Eridan yelped, pushing past Cronus and running through the underbrush. He disappeared in a flash, the noise he made as he scrambled through the dry branches and cacti being the only clue that there was a person out there.

“He can swim you idiot!” Cronus shouted after him, talking a half step as if to follow. He didn’t though. He stopped himself and shielded his eyes from the sun as Dolorosa approached him. He froze, her looming figure coming closer and closer with each intimidating step. He shook a little and yelped when she smacked him upside the head. “Ow! What was that for?”

“Listen to you elders you rotten little child!” Dolorosa snapped, her paranormal glow fading and her eyes softening. “I take it that man was your guardian? I bet all the figs I can carry that he was only loking out for you by telling you to stay at camp. You and your companion over there,” she gestured to the scrub and the river off to her right. “I know for sure I would be petrified if my girls or the Vantases went anywhere near a bunch of strangers out here.”

“I…” Cronus’ lip quivered for all of a fraction of a second. Then he smirked. “Girls you say? Hopefully they’re not the unpleasant kind, I think I’ve had enough of those for a while.”

Dolorosa grabbed Cronus by the fin, pinching hard as she growled.

“Ow! Ow ow ow ow ow ow! Let go!” Cronus whined. Dolorosa dragged him across the clearing in the direction of the river.

“Darkleer! Signless! Hurry up. This petulant little boy needs to be taught a lesson and I’m going to show his flopping fish of a guardian how it’s done!” Dolorosa disappeared into the thicket of desert scrub soon after, nothing more than a repetitive howl of a young man and the tsk-ing of her tongue.

Signless looked up at Darkleer, those broad, cool hands still holding him close to the giant. He gulped and slowly slipped out of his arms.

“What just occurred here?” Darkleer mumbled.

“I… think Mother just took on another project…” Signless said, sprinting across the clearing in the direction of the river. Darkleer followed, still stunned, still wide-eyed and silent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there wonderful readers, your friendly neighborhood fic author here. As you may or may not know, this fic, as long as it takes to write and update, is a commission. What you probably DON'T know is that the commission came with illustrations. Seeing as I am nearing completion on my other commissioned fics and will be starting the illustrations for those, I would love to also start arting for Blood Is Thicker too. 
> 
> So, if you have any suggestions, comments or questions, don't be afraid to hit me up on [my personal tumblr.](http://robogreaser.tumblr.com)
> 
>  **UPDATE:** Because of my recent computer failure, I am unable to update this fic anytime in the foreseeable future. If you'd like to know more, please consult my tumblr post [here.](http://robogreaser.tumblr.com/post/100936730288)


	20. Aversion to Chores

Having been confined to camp while the adults went out to play explorer had proved to be the worst possible punishment ever. Chores? Chores around the campsite was absolutely unbearable.

Kankri kicked the log over and over as Porrim breathed down his neck about the work that needed to be done. He balled up his fists in the long sleeves of his sweater and pressed them to his ear, a few moments from bursting into a tantrum. The flush on his cheeks was not going to deter Porrim though, she needed work done. She was in charge.

Karkat, dealing with gathering water from the river and boiling, noticed how red in the face Kankri was on his umpteenth trip from the water to the fireside. He set his bucket down. Rushing up to them, lips pursed, brow knitted down in an unpleasant scowl, Karkat tapped Porrim on the shoulder.

“Hey do you think you can lay off? Just a bit? I need some help with the fire anyway and Kankri’s better at that than climbing fig trees.” Karkat sounded a bit snippy, his tongue clicking a bit in impatience as Porrim twisted her lips in an exasperated sigh.

“If you really want to deal with him _fine._ I don’t want to hear it when Ma’am and crew return and whine about the work not getting done. I have to go help Horuss with the wash anyway.” She pinched the bridge of her nose and looked over to the riverside where Horuss was bent over the flat rocks with the pile of dirty clothes, grey with desert dust. She sighed. “And… he’s doing it wrong.”

She ran off.

Kankri and Karkat were alone now, two red faced and burning boys in the shade of a scraggly desert tree. Everything was hot. Karkat raised a makeshift water skin that Darkleer had made, offering it to Kankri. “It’s a lil warm, but you should still drink some. Or else you risk drying up like that fig Signless left next to his pillow.”

Kankri pursed his lips. “That was disgusting you know.”

“Right?” Karkat asked, shaking the makeshift canteen at Kankri. “It was worse when he rolled over at night and got it stuck to his face.”

“Blugh,” Kankri said as he took the canteen. He sipped and looked away.

There was an expected moment of awkward silence before Karkat cleared his throat. Shuffling his feet as he took the canteen from Kankri again, the both heaved a tired sigh. The desert sun, shade of trees or not, seemed to drain them all the more if they were trapped tending to camp. Karkat turned and pointed to the large makeshift pot he was using to carry water.

“So… you’re now tasked with helping me lug that piece of shit rock to and from the river.” Karkat crossed his arms, canteen hanging from his wrist. “Which I guess is better than putzing around with, what were you doing?”

Kankri folded his arms and mumbled to himself a bit. “Anyway…”

“No seriously, what the hell did Porrim delegate to your sorry butt to make you start swelling up like a red balloon of rage?” Karkat prodded Kankri’s shoulder gently with a smirk on his face.

“Stop!” Kankri said, huffing and pushing Karkat away. “I don’t need any shit from you either you self-righteous piece of shit.”

“I just asked you what the fuck you were told to do that’s getting you so upset?” Karkat asked, scowling less playfully now.

“Shut up.”

“Tell me.”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because!” Kankri shouted. “Because it’s fucking ridiculous for me to get all twisted up about not being able to do all of _this!_ ”

Karkat pursed his lips and stepped closer, looking Kankri in the eye. “What are you babbling about?”

Kankri threw up his arms and flopped down, sitting on the log in a mass of babbling and whining and flailing sweater sleeves. “Just shut up and leave me alone.”

“No.”

“Karkat you piece of shit, can you not respect a person’s distress and inability to socialize at the moment? Or are you so blind to the struggles of other people separate from your involvement? You really are the most egotistical selfish bastard a troll could ever know.”

He blinked, grey eyes with a slight tinge of red wide in disbelief. Karkat sighed and towered over Kankri. “What in the ever living fuck are you talking about?”

“I can’t _do_ this anymore!” Kankri yelled, red faced, red eyed in every way, and clearly fed up. “I can’t sit here anymore. I can’t sit here and play house while there’s the possibility that there’s _answers_ out there. I don’t remember _anything._ All I know is my name and that I fucking despise you and that Signless makes me feel incompetent and that I can’t make rope as good as Equius or mend clothes as well as Porrim or Kanaya and that every moment I sit here all I’m doing is letting everyone down and not making a single thing better. And now Porrim wants me to go out alone to find any building materials because Horuss accidentally knocked down the one wall on the shelter Darkleer was building and… and…”

Karkat stared. For a moment, all he wanted to do was slap Kankri right across the face. Hit him hard. Make him shut up. But as he stood there, grey red eyes blinking in disbelief as he listened to the rambling confession of inadequacy, Karkat calmed some.

“Kankri. Shut up. You’re not useless or any of that shit. You’re just an asshole.” Karkat looked down, shielding his eyes from the sunlight and from Kankri. “You’re an ass. But you’re not… you know… any of what you said. You…”

Kankri looked up and wiped his face with his grimy sweater. “Shut up. What am I if I’m not useless? Besides some generic insult you like hurling at everyone who gets your knickers in a knot?”

“Shut up,” Karkat snapped. He blushed. “You’re… important, you know, to Signless and to some other people. You’re an important fucking asshole. Alright?” Karkat had been mumbling, still looking away. “You’re important… to… you know… me.”

Yet another awkward silence ensued.

“So. Water.” Kankri said, getting up, a little less red-faced and a little more soft-spoken.

“Water,” Karkat said, shuffling back towards the river, Kankri in tow.

%MCEPASTEBIN%

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please note, I am still working with a very uncooperative and junky computer. This means updates, though resuming once more, will still be slow. I'm so sorry. I'm going to try and keep a regular update schedule in mind seeing as I have finished my other commissioned long fics. 
> 
> Any comments, questions, and feedback is welcome here and at [my personal tumblr](robogreaser.tumblr.com). Thank you for reading.


	21. Friction

In the desert, dealing with the water was constantly on the brain. For Kankri and Karkat, it was a chore, but a chore they would happily deal with. Water meant relief from the heat. It meant staying away from camp and wading out to the middle of the slow current for a few moments, the cold water taking away the anger and frustration and sweat.

Not that they were the ones with the sweating problem.

Karkat heaved up the makeshift water skins Darkleer had entrusted to Horuss who had entrusted to him. There was work at hand. Chores. Boring, laborious and tedious chores were at hand. With Kankri by his side, it was all the more of headache.

“This is the kind of shit that’s supposed to be easy you know,” Karkat said, heaving one of the large water skins over his shoulder. “You open the top, you drop it in the water, you fill it up, you close it up, and then you’re done. Why the _fuck_ is that so hard for you?”

Kankri didn’t responded immediately. There was a pause unlike most that Kankri usually gave. There was no huffing or sniveling or muttering. There was pause, utter silence aside from the water rolling over the rocks.

Karkat looked up. “What happened? The tongue fall out of your mouth.”

Kankri stared at Karkat, red faced and wide-eyed. “Karkat…”

“What?”

In a flush of splashing water and flailing arms, Kankri waded out among the water and river rock, making his way to stand in front of Karkat, knee-deep and still red-faced.

“What?” Karkat asked again.

Kankri reached out and slapped Karkat hard across the face. Karkat dropped the water skin and doubled over, howling. A bony hand, dry and rough in the desert for days, hard across the cheek, never felt good. There was a sharp wave of heat, like needles, across Karkat’s face.

“ _What? The? Fuck?”_ Karkat yelled, rubbing at the searing pain. “You son of a bitch!”

“Shut up.” Kankri’s voice was restrained, barely making its way out of his throat. Karkat took a double take. Was there fear here now? Uncertainty? Since when was Kankri uncertain of anything that fell out of his mouth? “Just shut up and let me _think_.”

“You didn’t think when you fucking hit me now did you, you—”

Kankri silenced Karkat with a kiss.

There was a new heat, not one that burned their skin but something slow and steady running up their spines and pooling with the red in their cheeks. Karkat fumbled for a moment, unsure of what to do with his lips or his teeth or his tongue. He may have flipped his lip a lot, yelled and shouted, but this was different. This was hard. This was nice. This was…

“Wrong!” Karkat shouted, pushing Kankri back and fumbling back until he fell into the water. “This is so wrong! What the fuck happened? What the fuck? What the ever-living fuck Kankri?!”

“Shut up!” Kankri doubled over, hands over his stomach, face red, his body in apparent pain. “Shut up shut up shut up! I know! I know its fucked up! I know it’s wrong. I _fucking hate you_.”

“I hate you too! But you don’t see me making a fuss over every little thing and then marching across a river to… to… make out with you!”

“I know!” Kankri cried out, the sound something pained and feral. He had been cornered. Not by Karkat, but by whatever whirlwind of emotion and hormone and fear was swirling around in his head. His muscles contracted. He doubled over further. He hurt. It hurt.

“Kankri…” Karkat spoke softer now, barely audible over the water and the sound of Kankri’s pained groans. “Kankri… stop.”

“I’m trying to stop!” Kankri shouted, dropped to his knees, the water of the river going up to his chest, still moving, still rushing by him. Even that, water cold and clear, couldn’t wash him clean. “I’ve been trying to stop for days and it hurts. I don’t know who I am and I don’t know what I’m feeling and it hurts. It’s so fucking scary and…”

Karkat stayed put. Water kept moving, as it was apt to do, as he stood there and stood there, watching Kankri shake and choke on his words, chest deep in the cold of the river. He was dumbstruck, struck with dumb, struck by Kankri. Lurching forward, a sudden craze lighting up inside him, Karkat heaved Kankri up, fists balled up on the soaking wet collar of his sweater.

“Snap out of it!” Karkat slapped him across the face. “Only you, some idiot who wears a sweater in a desert, would make an issue out of this!”

Karkat shook him a bit, arms yelling out in strain as he lifted up that heavy wet paper bag of a troll. He grunted, dropped Kankri back on his feet, and stepped closer… closer… They were kissing again and it wasn’t bad. It was wrong, they knew so, but it wasn’t bad. That second mashing of red-burned grey faces, wetter than the first, wasn’t bad, but it was still wrong.

Kankri pushed back this time. “Stop! We don’t have time for this stupidity. We don’t, we don’t, we don’t! We have to get the hell out of here. We have to find out what happened to us! We have to… we have to… we have to…”

Striking him across the face again, this time a little less harshly, Karkat pulled close to Kankri and stared at him. “We have to stay alive. We have to stay safe. If not for us, than for Signless. We have to wait before we can figure this out.”

“Then why were you kissing me?” Kankri spat. He fumbled with his sweater now, pulling it up and over his head. Throwing it against the rocks with a loud splat, he turned back to Karkat, still red faced, brows knit together as if his face was still fighting tears. “Huh? Why the fuck were you kissing me if that was the case?”

Karkat threw up his arms. “You kissed me first you vomit-suckling toad!”

“That was different!”

“How?!”

“It just was!”

“Oh really?” Karkat said. “You mean like how it’s oh _so_ different that you’re wearing the same damned hiked up pants as Signless after you gave him all kinds of shit for looking like a nerd’s bundle of hemorrhoids?”

Kankri sneered. “It _is_ different than that. You don’t understand the complexities and intricacies of an individual’s fashion choices. They are, invariably, consistently influenced and based upon the environment that individual is faced with. You don’t understand the necessity for a singular person to convey some semblance of personal free will and individuality, even if they are confronted with the dire circumstances we find ourselves in, day in and day out.”

Karkat blinked. A slight snarl curled his lips up, but he opted to just rub his temples. “What in the ever living fuck was that geyser of garbage supposed to mean?”

“You just don’t get it,” Kankri groaned, throwing up his arms.

Karkat mimicked the gesture and threw out his own mocking groan. For a split second the two of them stood there, in the middle of the small desert river, water continuing to run around their thighs, squinty eyed in the sun and sneering. Kankri was the one lunge.

In a flurry of red-seamed pants and red-tinged grey flesh, Kankri tackled Karkat. There were splashes. There were cries of anger and surprise. There were more kisses. There were bits, and nips, and a small dribble of blood pricked to life on Karkat’s lower lip. Nose to nose, their little tussle in the river slowed, Karkat soaking wet, hair mated to his forehead. Kankri, in a flurry, took his hand and pushed it up, and back, huffing as he held Karkat’s head to his chest, mashing the ever so slightly smaller troll to his compact muscles and wet pants.

“I hate you…” Kankri whispered, breathing hard.

“I hate you too…” Karkat responded, teeth toying with the zipper of his partner’s pants. “I hate you so much, you piece of shit.”

Bodies react in odd ways to stimuli. For instance, when one bleeds, the blood oxidizes and congeals, sealing the wound. Or, for instance, when one screams for long enough, their throat dries and grows hoarse. Perhaps strangest of all, is when there’s enough friction and heat and hormones and, most of all, attraction, a person’s mind becomes desperate. A person becomes greedy. A person becomes primal. With a fumbling flurry of hands, Karkat felt the bone and muscle that his counterpart was hiding under those ridiculous pants. The material, somewhat shiny even when dry, clung to the contours of his… thighs and hips and rear and groin and…

Karkat huffed.

His frantic hands slipped and slid over those contours. There was a desperation in his inhale and a greed in his exhale. Karkat knew what he wanted. Unzipping Kankri, that pretentious motherfucker with the sneering look on his face as he kneeled over Karkat, was its own reward. Those stupid, _stupid_ pants left an imprint on Kankri’s flesh, ever red stitched seam, the ones hugging his muscles and creasing with his movements, making his silver flesh crisscross in red. Karkat inhaled, the slight sound making Kankri smile.

“You like?”

“I hate,” was the only response Karkat could muster, hand reaching up and in those damned pants.

“Fine,” Kankri said with a displeased whine. “You want it then?”

Karkat looked up and smirked. “I want.”

Somewhere between the splashing and the frenzy of hand work, Karkat ended up against a series of rocks toward the shaded side of the river, his back on the dry part, his legs still submerged. But the rocks didn’t matter. No. What mattered was the handsome son of a bitch straddling his chest, naked body gleaming red-grey in the pieces of sunlight that made it through the branches of the tree on the river bank.

He was lithe, a young man of sinew and red eyes and slightly bony hands. Hands that dipped down to lift under Karkat’s shirt, yanking it, careful not to rip it, up over his head and casting it with a splat against the rocks. He grinned and wiggled some, sitting higher up on Karkat’s chest, thighs pressing lightly against his sides. Kankri was red-faced, not from the heat now, but from an intimate shame. He folded his hands over his stomach.

Karkat reached up, and silent as the night, pulled them away. He kissed Kankri’s knuckles and then bit his thumb. There was a yelp, but Karkat grinned. “No. I want to see all of you, you awful fucking bastard.”

Kankri whined. “Fine.” He lifted his arms into the air and shone a bit more, leaning back, the film of river water and sweat gleaming some. He wiggled and then smirked. “Fine. You get to see all of me.”

“Huh?”

Kankri only answered by lifting himself some, crotch hovering above Karkat now, as he reached down… down… bony fingers slipping along his lower stomach, over the smooth of his groin, and to the sheathe and slit that lie there. Karkat gulped.

There was a scent of desperation and greed in the air. It was the scent of sex. Karkat loved it. Kankri toyed with himself, slow and meticulous, his sweat building up as the river water evaporated off of him. He wiggled again, hips rolling, stomach muscles rippling some.

Karkat had had enough.

“This is wrong.” His voice was different now, low and almost guttural, a slight growl bubbling up as he spoke. “This is wrong…”

Kankri didn’t stop, not even as Karkat reached up, nails digging into his thighs, face leaning in, nose to his sheathe, mouth to his slit, tongue flicking over a little nodule of flesh that made Kankri shiver and moan and melt.

“F-fuck…” Kankri stuttered. “F-f-fuck you.”

Karkat deadpanned and pulled away, his face still full of Kankri but far enough away for him to speak. “Actually, I’m trying to you, you know. So shut the fuck up.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A thing to note: I had no intention of making this commission, something meant to revolve around the Vantas boys, something not safe for work, let alone smutty. However, upon some reflection where I realized I was getting off course with the ever growing cast. This seemed the best way to remind not only the reader, but myself, that this fic is indeed about a certain trio of mutant-blooded trolls. 
> 
> Enjoy your Vantascest.


	22. The One Where Bad Things Are Mentioned

Shame was a very heavy cloak, even heavier than Signless’s, and that fact made it all the harder to slip on their clothes again, wade back to the riverbank, and resume their chores. Since shame was their cloak, silence would be their shroud.

All was well.

Nothing to see here.

Karkat and Kankri finished their chores before sunset, something that surprised Porrim, but not enough to detract from Signless and crew’s late return from their expedition. They shouldn’t have been gone so long. They should be back and smoothing things out between Equius and Kanaya as they bickered over mending clothes. They should have been back to stop Horuss from accidentally dropping a tree into the river. They should have been back.

Porrim kept busy however, and with her ever-time-consuming rationing of roast figs and whatever dried boar meat Darkleer had prepared, she sat everyone down to dinner. The fire was warm, the conversation, not so much. Kankri and Karkat sat at opposite ends of the circle, a Maryam and a Zahhak between them on each side.

Awkward silence could kill. Porrim was sure of it.

“So anyway… how did everyone’s chores go today?” Porrim asked, setting down the large leaf holding her food into her lap. “Everything seems to be in order and I take it everything went swimmingly.”

“Sure,” Kankri huffed. He pinched a fig, the roasted flesh giving way under the pressure, making it squirt and make a mess on his hand. “Swimmingly.”

Karkat snorted.

The awkward silence resumed for a few moments, Porrim looking between Kankri and Karkat for a moment, her lips pursed, her brow pressed down into a curious and concerned arch. She sighed, but before she could respond in earnest, there was a rustling at the edge of camp.

Horuss jumped up, his odd smile faltering a moment as he fetched the bow Darkleer had made for him. It creaked in his grasp. The bushes parted and everyone stared. Silence.

Dolorosa was the first to wade into the circle of firelight. There came her steady footfalls, a muffled pattering against the ground as she walked closer, her arm stretched out behind her as she dragged one of the newcomers into view. Dualscar kept whining and yelping with each tug of his fin.

Karkat jumped up. “I knew it!”

Kankri rolled his eyes. Everyone bubbled up from their stupor and rushed forward. The adults were safe and back, this time bringing along newcomers. Finally, good news had arrived. The flurry of movement disturbed dinner, and it took Darkleer bringing up the rear with two boys in tow, bull-horned and avoiding anyone’s gaze, before everyone settled back down, calm and focused on food instead of the dramatics.

Dualscar, Cronus, Rufioh, and Tavros were offered dinner, of course, even if it was nothing more than roasted fig and wild boar. They accepted, quiet and gracious, their thank-yous mumbling out gently.

Dualscar was quiet, a man focused on food and making sure Cronus was still there, still out of trouble. Dolorosa watched him with an accusing eye, as if daring him to flare up.

“So… where are the rest of your group?” Kankri asked, sneering some.

“Eridan offered to stay behind,” Dualscar explained. “I told him no, but he insisted so I had asked him to keep an eye on the big bull so he didn’t get hurt any worse by that atrocious bi—”

Dolorosa cleared her throat in her usual way, enough to scare everyone around the fire. “Enough of that. This camp is a place of _positivity_.”

Dualscar nodded and grumbled some, focusing on the food in front of him. He sighed. Cronus chuckled. There was something between those two fishmen, a grumbly, mumbly agitation that even now, among new people, seemed a slight bit affectionate. It was odd.

Karkat looked around the fire. Darkleer was looming over Tavros and Rufioh, as if a giant boulder of defense making up for whatever it was that made their adult, Summoner, stay behind. Karkat scoffed, but kept quiet, watching.

Camp was better with more people. That much was clear.

Karkat watched.

Horuss had dropped his usual strange smile and brought food to the newcomers, looking down at Rufioh and commenting on his impressive horns. There was a nervous chuckle that sounded out across camp, and Karkat could swear, somewhere, that the creepy dude with the creepy smile, actually managed to catch the attention of the cute dude with the funny hair.

Porrim sat next to Cronus, swatting his hands every now and then as they wandered closer to hers. He sighed and receded some, if only for a few seconds, before proceeding again. Eventually Dualscar slapped him upside the head and barked something about letting it go. Dolorosa snickered and Porrim sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.

Karkat smirked.

Signless sat down next to him, right between him and Kankri. “Mind if I plant my bony ass right here with my two boys?” he asked. “Oh wait, too late, I’m here.”

Kankri and Karkat groaned as Signless looped his arms around them and pulled them close. Struggling for a moment, they surrendered to the ridiculous and warm affection. It was better than making a scene.

“You’re being a dick you know,” Kankri said, rolling his eyes.

“Good. We know how you love dick,” Karkat said with a sneer.

Kankri shot him a stare worth a thousand daggers and blushed a deeper shade of cherry. They both went tight lipped and stoic until Signless laughed. Looking up, the noticed him, his charcoal face bristly with some stubble unchecked in the desert. He muffled up both of their heads, hair sticking out at odd angles. They groaned.

“You two…” Signless spoke softer now, so only the other two could hear him. “As awful as you are sometimes, I hope you know I’m here. I’m not going to just give up on either of you, no matter what. Okay?”

“Eugh,” Kankri retched, rolling his eyes. “I don’t need that. It’s demeaning and patronizing and someone like myself shouldn’t have to be so belittled. What the hell has you all sappy like this? Next thing we know and you’ll be kissing our bulges and telling us we’re pretty.”

Karkat stared at Kankri this time.

Signless laughed. “No, no, don’t worry about that. I’m far too old to be cavorting with kids like you. That and I think I’m just too damned big for a runt like you.”

Kankri huffed and then yelped as Signless pinched his cheek, fawning over him for a moment in his mocking paternal way. Karkat snort-chuckled and then laughed, unable to stop himself as he watch Signless tease his… whatever Kankri was to him.

Maybe there weren’t words for it, but Kankri was _something_ to him, even if it was a dirty secret. That was alright. This was alright. Tonight meant new people and decent food, and that was better than most nights.

***

Standing by the riverside sometime after midnight, Signless sat huddled, his cloak gone and wrapped around his boys somewhere back at camp. He shivered a bit, cursing the deserts fluctuating temperature. His words were mumbled, low, unobtrusive to the souls resting back at camp. And yet… part of him wanted to scream, wake everyone, get back on track and get some answers.

There were trolls out there. That’s what the girl with the white framed glasses had called them. Trolls. It seemed befitting considering Kankri’s demeanor and Karkat’s style of bickering. It seemed befitting considering that cerulean woman with the mystifying tongue and piercing eyes that had made that handsome troll with the goalpost horns and pleasant smile strike him and had made Dolorosa…

That morning hadn’t been pleasant.

Thank God for Darkleer. Thank god for Dualscar.

Signless cradled his knees in his arms and tried to focus. He had friends in these people, these trolls, and he relished it. And yet… Kankri and Karkat had a point. There were answers that needed to be found. Everyone they had come across in this desert river valley had been an amnesiac. Every single one of these trolls were interconnected somehow. Somehow… Pressing the heel of his hands to his eyes, Signless grunted, trying to focus.

“Are you okay dear?” Dolorosa called out. “Kankri, dear?”

Signless turned. “I’m here mother.”

“I know where you, dear…” Dolorosa whispered, her hand clutching Signless’s shoulder. “I asked how you were, not where you were.”

“Ha, ha,” Signless said. He sighed. “I’m okay.”

“Don’t lie to me.”

“Fine, fine…” Signless said, looking down into his lap as Dolorosa knelt down beside him, looking him over carefully in the weak moonlight. “I’m confused. Curious, really. After this morning with, you know… and I’m just wondering what’s happened to all of us that we’ve lost our memories. I want to know _where_ we are and how we got here. I want to know…”

Dolorosa pursed her lips. “That’s not all, is it? Otherwise you would have entertained your boys thoughts on these matters before now.”

“Right.” Signless fell silent for a moment. He looked up at Dolorosa, a glisten in his eyes, little trickles of tears down his face. “How could that asshole leave his boys? What was that _vile_ woman doing to him? I look at Kankri and Karkat, and they actually give me trouble, and I couldn’t leave them behind like that. What was Summoner thinking? Tavros and Rufioh and… and… _How could he let us take them away from those awful girls?_ He just… just…”

Signless was crying now, the sound weak and tinkling in the night, drowned out by water of the river rolling of the rocks. Dolorosa held him closed and ran her fingers through his hair, shushing him and nodding. “You saw what Mindfang could do…”

“Still!”

“Shhh…” Dolorosa whispered. “I know… those boys are kindhearted and pleasant and he just gave them up with a wave of his hand. But you must remember how strong that woman’s trickery was. You cannot judge him so harshly knowing what she must be doing to him.”

Signless whimpered. “I will never let go of Kankri or Karkat. I swear it. I swear… and if I ever do…”

Dolorosa smiled some. “I’ll punch you as hard as Darkleer and Dualscar punched that wretched witch.”

“Good.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My apologies for the delay in updates. My computer has been making steady progress on it's death march, and I've ben working on a buffer for this series as well as working on personal projects. 
> 
> Tune in Saturday for the next chapter.


	23. Fish and More

Daylight came with a hum of insects and a loose and rankling song of some unseen songbird. Signless opened his eyes to Kankri nestled close under one arm, Karkat under the other, and his cloak draped over them and his legs.

Darkleer was already up and milling about as Dualscar tended to the fire, a soaking wet sack in the other.

Signless shimmied out of his cocoon of cloak and Vantas boys, and dusted himself off. Walking over, he quirked a brow at Dualscar. “What’ve you got there?” Signless asked.

Dualscar snorted. “None of your business, you runt.”

“Whoa there grumpy gills…” Signless held up his hands and scoffed. “No need to get snippy.”

Darkleer laid a heavy hand on Signless’s shoulder and calmed him, sighing. “He’s not a morning fella it seems. He’s already kicked me in the shin for asking what the hell he was doing skinny dipping before the sun was up.”

“Shut up you gargantuan twit,” Dualscar grunted. “I didn’t swim three miles up rivier and back just to get a face full of idiots,” he snapped as he turned out his bag. Wiggly, wriggling fish, something that looked like little lobsters, splashed right into Darkleer’s makeshift pot, which, in all actuality, was a rock he had punched until it was dented enough to hold water.

“What in the world is that mess?” Signless asked, pointing to the crawdads and stepping away.

“Breakfast.” Dualscar placed a flat rock over the top of the pot and shoved it into the embers of the fire. “I am so _sick_ of fruit and tough as nails pig meat. So shut up.”

Signless stuck his tongue out and sighed, his bit of pent up frustration at the bad attitude fading away. “Thank you, I supposed. For breakfast. And for yesterday.”

“Don’t mention it, runt.”

Signless squinted, huffed, and turned his attention to Darkleer. There was no point in fighting a fish it seemed. He frowned though when he noticed exactly it was that Darkleer was busying himself with. “Darkleer? Why are you packing your things?”

Darkleer looked up and frowned some, setting down his makeshift bow. “I’m going to go confront Summoner today. That and I’ll see if I can get Dualscar’s boy to join us too. It might take a while and I think if I don’t convince him, I’ll spend the night at their camp to keep an eye on that Mindfang. She doesn’t seem to have any effect on me, so for that poor sap’s sake at the very least, I ought to keep an eye on things.”

“I…” Signless trailed off, still frowning. “Are you sure?”

“Absolutely.”

“Let him go,” Dualscar piped in. “That bitch needs someone the size of a mountain to quash her and her bullshit. God knows I could barely handle her crap, otherwise I’d go too. But hey,” Dualscar looked up from where he was tending to his pot of crawdads. “Please see if you can get my kid back along with bullboy. Please?”

“Will do.” Darkleer returned to his packing.

Signless frowned and took his seat on the fallen log, knees pressed together, gaze cast downward. Something didn’t seem _right_ about this. Darkleer shouldn’t be the one going out into the wilds to handle a villainess and the boy caught in her thrall. Something didn’t seem right with just sitting here, at home, with a bitter chef and a gaggle of kids.

He was trapped and he knew it.

***

Breakfast came and went, with little fanfare other than a quick lesson in how to eat crawdads correctly. Sure, everyone shied away from it at first, and Cronus did have a disgusting habit of slurping as he ate, but in time everyone had their fill. Dualscar, it seemed, was a damned efficient fisherman.

Dolorosa busied herself with double checking Darkleer’s provisions and showing him once more how to properly tie the knots he needed to know to keep his clothes together. She clicked her tongue in disapproval. Days in the desert had done little to help their state of clothes. Sure, they could wash them, but there was little they could do to mend the tears they were accumulating. Dualscar and Cronus could skinny dip and be happy, fine, that was their prerogative, but Dolorosa fussed over the hole in Darkleer’s suit from one of his pre-dawn hunting trips.

Her fussing was cut short. Darkleer pulled his things together and he was on his way, off to some secluded clearing downstream where the others were waiting.

Signless watched him go, Kankri and Karkat by his sides. Looking over to where Rufioh and Tavros sat, quiet, unobtrusive as they were, Signless bit his lip and thought. Dolorosa took her time, checking over a few scrapes and bruises on their knees and elbows, and then let them be. Porrim kept Cronus at bay. Kanaya offered to show Tavros around camp. Horuss, his forced smile of the most disturbing sort seemingly gone, sat next to Rufioh and discussed in hushed tones how he needed to keep an eye out for the bickering short boys and Porrim when chores weren’t getting done. Rufioh smiled at tht and laughed, the sound making Horuss smile in a less horrid manner.

Karkat looked up at Signless. “You know, if you hold my shoulder any tighter I might have to ration some of my hate for Kankri onto you.”

“Oh!” Signless let go of the two of them. “Sorry, I think I must have zoned out for a moment.”

“Clearly,” Kankri muttered, rubbing his shoulder and poking out from under the cloak some. The days upon days in the heat and the sun had hardened them, all of them, to the brutality of the sun. Sunburns were less common, and even Kankri was tinted a shade closer to onyx.

“So what’s even up with you anyway?” Karkat asked, poking Signless’s side and making him squirm. “You didn’t come to bed until really late. You turning into an insomniac?”

“No,” Signless said, turning back to their shared mat of packed dirt and leaves where they had been sleeping. “Although I tell you boys, I’ve felt a whole lot better at night than in this accursed sun.”

“Mhmmm…” Kankri said, crossing his arms and watching Signless mill about. “Are sure that’s all you’re up to? We noticed you were out with Dolorosa by the river. Are you sure you’re telling us everything or are you trying to pull the proverbial wool over our eyes in order to hide yet another—”

Karkat covered Kankri’s mouth and groaned. “What Sir Rambles-a-lot was trying to get at is we’re just wondering what the hell you’re up to sneaking about. Did something happen? I mean, yeah, we fucked up majorly the other day with the whole sneaking off bit, but you’re really not setting a good example by telling us it’s the absolute worst thing we could do, and then going off and doing it for yourself.”

“Hush you,” Signless said, flopping down on his sleeping spot. “I’ve just been doing some thinking lately—”

“What a shocking development,” Kankri said with a sneer. Karkat elbowed him.

Signless rolled his eyes. “As I was _saying_ , I’ve been doing some thinking, what with the utter bullshit we had to deal with when visiting Dualscar’s camp, and some of the stuff we found out—”

“What did you find out!?” Kankri and Karkat asked in unison, almost at a shout, almost lost in their excitement.

“Hush.”

“No!” Kankri said, bouncing a bit, a genuine smile on his face. “We were the ones who told you there was more trolls out there and that they could know something. Don’t tell us to hush when we’re right here at the edge of finding something out. We’ve wanted this for days you fool.”

Signless pursed his lips and sighed. “Hush you, there’s more to it than that.”

“Still,” Karkat said, frowning some and sitting across from Signless. “Loudmouth has a point. You’re sulking around in the dark hiding the things we were trying to find out. That’s not right. C’mon, don’t you trust us at all or are we just luggage for you to drag around here in this hellhole desert?”

“It’s not like that,” Signless said.

“Then what is it?’ Kankri asked.

Pinching the bridge of his nose, voice dropping to barely above a whisper, Signless relented. “Listen, you both were right. There’s more trolls out there. And from what we found out talking to those fish guys and their camp, there’s a lot more.”


	24. A New Plan

“More?”

The question was let loose without much thought, the tone bordering on disbelief. Kankri looked down for a moment, trying to think through all the sudden fog in his head. There were others, and from the sound of it, quite a few of them. There were more trolls out there.

“How do you know? How are you sure they weren’t lying?” Karkat asked Signless as they all dropped down to a whisper now. “I mean, weren’t you saying that the lady with that ridiculous hat was really, _really_ awful? She could have lied just to fuck with you.”

“She could have…” Signless dropped his head in thought, staring at a nearby cactus for a moment. The idea scared him. All this sudden hope he had gained could just vanish. Like nothing had happened. “But I think we’re okay. I think it’s the truth. It makes sense after all. Why would there only be so few of us. There just has to be more trolls out there.”

Kankri rolled his eyes. A scoff bubbled up out of his mouth and he leaned back, palms to the dirt, glare focused on Signless. “I want to know what’s going on, what’s _out there_ , just as much as anyone else. Probably more so considering how everything is going around here with these idiots and their prattling lists of chores and work and making me do things I’m clearly not physically capable of carrying out even with—”

Karkat put his hand over Kankri’s mouth and held it there. He looked to Signless. “What are you planning on doing anyway? I mean, you believe this weird, nasty lady who just so happens to not want anything to do with joining our group and who I heard got decked in the face.”

“When did you hear that?” Signless asked, blushing some.

Karkat yelped. Kankri had bit him. “Fuck you!”

“And fuck you too you idiot. I was the one who found out about that. I should clearly have been the one to bring it up.” Kankri wiped his mouth and squinted at Karkat, as if daring him to continue. Karkat didn’t. “Regardless… what _are_ you planning on doing? Please don’t tell me it’s nothing.”

“No it’s not nothing.” Signless held himself back from separating the two of them for now. He leaned back, elbows on the ground, legs kicking out in front of him. He tried to relax. “I’m just thinking about where to go from here.”

“So you’re saying that there is somewhere to go.” Kankri’s eyes widened a bit, the curve of his mouth ticking upwards. “Somewhere that’s not here?”

Karkat whacked him on the shoulder. “Don’t be so presumptuous you ass. It’s a figure of speech. You should know that much seeing as how self-masturbatory you are with talking sometimes.”

Signless took the moment to dive in between the two bickering boys, sweeping arms pulling them apart, and diffused the situation. He rubbed his temples and glared both Kankri and Karkat down, his frustrations and disdain for the fighting clear with every crease and line on his face.

“Listen up you two,” Signless said, sighing. “There are things out there, things that can hurt us, people that can hurt us. I don’t want to risk anything anymore than I need to, least of all, the two of you and your wellbeing.”

Kankri huffed. “That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t stop trying to figure out what’s happened to make all of us lose out memories.”

“I hate to agree with the asshole, yet—” Karkat stopped, noticing a slight twitch in Signless’s face.

“If you two would let me finish just one coherent thought…” Signless grumbled. Inhaling, composing himself, and then exhaling, he calmed down and closed his eyes. “As I was saying, I would hate for anything to happen to either of you. That’s why I’ve convinced Dolorosa to allow me to take you two with me out on a scouting expedition.”

Kankri and Karkat froze. Between the two of them, there was enough shock to jumpstart a car battery, but right here, right now, they seemed a little lifeless. Signless waved his hand in front of them, fingers poking at each of their faces. He smirked.

“Seems I broke my boys. What a shame…”

The smiles finally kicked in and Signless was tackled to the ground in a hug or two.

%MCEPASTEBIN%


	25. Peace

Being displeased with the plan seemed to become the defining personality trait of Dolorosa over the course of the next day. She devolved into a perpetual sideways glance and a muttered ‘tsk’ as Signless packed up supplies in his cloak, rolling it all up and tying it to his back.

She wasn’t the only one displeased.

Dualscar put on an air of indifference, but continued to count his fish, re-evaluate the camp’s stockpile of dried boar meat, and dole out figs while looking over Signless and his boys with a slight sneer. There was never a good time to break ranks. He knew this, but said nothing.

“As long as you’re careful, that’s what matters. Because we all know if you manage to fuck up and get hurt, Ma’am will go into a frenzy and kill the rest of us,” Dualscar said, muttering to Signless as he slipped a few more leaf wrapped packages of river fish into Signless’s bundle. “Just keep to the river while you’re out and stay away from my old camp.”

“I…” Signless blinked, hands wringing together, a little lost light in his eye. “Thank you. I think. I thought you didn’t think this was a good idea.”

“I don’t, mostly because it isn’t. But you’re a stubborn jackass and so are your boys,” Dualscar said, crossing his arms, a smirk splaying across his face as his gills puffed up slightly. “And if Ma’am couldn’t talk you down from this insanity, well I sure as hell won’t be able to.”

“Ha hah.” Signless rolled his eyes and readjusted the pack on his back, shrugging a little, charcoal skinned shoulders rolling and gleaming with a slight film of sweat. “We’ll be back in three days anyway. And the only reason I’m taking the boys is—”

“I know.”

The look on Dualscar’s face, something grim yet understanding, spoke volumes to Signless. They remained there, in silent understanding for a moment. They both knew. Letting go of those kids, however they were related to them, would be impossible.

“I’ll pass by the camp to check on Darkleer and send your other boy back. Okay?” Signless said, holding out his hand to Dualscar.

Dualscar took that hand in his and gripped tight, the kind of tight one would be expected at a fancy job interview, and shook. “Thank you.”

It would be another few minutes before Karkat and Kankri tumbled out of the bushes and into the clearing, bickering as usual. Signless dragged a hand down his face and managed to dive in and separate the two of them before whatever this was turned to blows. Calming them down and sitting them on the log by the fire, he turned to go find Dolorosa.

Karkat grabbed his wrist. “She’s out with Kanaya getting more figs. If you had half brain in that thick skull of yours, you wouldn’t drag out this parade of stupidity any longer. Signless…?” Karkat nudged him.

Signless sighed and flopped out of his stupor with a hand slapping himself upside the head. Looking down, then at the boys, he shrugged. “You’re probably right. And besides, we’ll be back soon enough. You two, do you have your things together?” Signless asked.

They both nodded.

***

The quiet wrapped around them in the shade of the trees as soon as they stepped outside of camp. It was odd. Since meeting the Zahhaks well over a week before, there had not been this tense silence amongst the three of them.

They continued.

Step after step, they followed the curve and bend and twist of the river, pushing past densely packed brush and dried and prickling woodiness. It was worth it. Kankri and Karkat’s bickering reduced to a simmer. There was a tense silence once more.

They continued.

This was familiar. This is what they had awakened to days earlier. This is how it started. Desert soil under their feet, a small cloud of dust kicking up with each step, they were warm and at peace for once. Signles stood between each of them, his skin like the tarnish on a nickel not all that different from theirs. They had burned more than enough so far. They had had enough aloe smeared into them. They had been hardened.

And then it came to Signless, like a foggy thought and picture in his mind, something very similar: Dolorosa, leaning over him, quieting him, and rubbing the cool of aloe into his sunburns. He remembered Dolorosa, bundling him up in a flurry of black and jade cloth, hiding him from gruff voices, hiding him from those who walked out in the moonlight.

Signless bit his lip.

Memories were part of the mission and yet… This seemed domestic. Useless. Is that what he was in his old life? Useless? Right now all he seemed to be good for was providing a wall between Kankri and Karkat. Keep them apart, he thought. Keep them apart and keep the peace. That’s what needed to be done right?

As they walked down along the dirt and gravel and boulders of the riverbank, that’s what Signless was good for. He kept the peace.

It was an odd thought.

It made him smile.


	26. Maps

It must be said at this point that amnesia sucks, the desert sucks, and travelling through the desert, riverside within stone’s throw or not, sucks. On top of that, tack on two irritable children and a seemingly toxic sun, and you have a recipe for disaster.

There had been talk time and time again, within the last few weeks especially, about switching the sleeping schedule for the camp completely. The moon offered enough light and it never did burn the flesh. There was opportunity there. There was comfort. And even though they wouldn’t be watched as they took to their excursions, the Vantas boys had little gall to actually defy Dolorosa and her insistence that the entire group keep to being awake at day.

Kankri hated it.

There was a large rock outcropping halfway between the river and camp, off the path and among the briars and cacti, here he hid away after each excursion into the wilds. Grumbling and mumbling, he reassured himself that there was _more_ out there. There were other trolls. There was _something._

He pilfered the odd little pieces of burnt charcoal from the fire when no one was looking. He’d gather the odd fig or two, a peculiar red stone and if he were feeling more artistic, a cactus flower or two. Kankri had one thing in mind, even if he was sure Signless only ever lead him on wild goose chases and punishment marches for biting Karkat that one time that just so happened to be a total accident.

Kankri gathered his odds and ends and stashed them among the wide rocks in the shade of a strange and gnarled tree, the branches twisting up and over him on the ground.

He worked in silence when the chores were done and when he managed to shake off the prying eye of a Maryam or Dualscar when the bastard was feeling extra strict. He worked, piles of oddly colored objects separated with a strange mathematical precision. Kankri had a keen eye.

He was making paint.

It wasn’t an art project. Not at all. This was serious business and it served a purpose. He wouldn’t deviate from his one true obsession. No. This project, this massive mess of paint and rock and precision, this was going to help him get the answers he wanted.

All he needed was a map.

So he made one.

Each trip out into the wilds, past the edge of camp, past the camp where Darkleer spent the days keeping Mindfang from utterly destroying Summoner, past an odd bend in the river, each of these trips garnered more information Kankri was damned sure would come in handy. He spent a good deal of time up along his rocks with his little mess of gritty paints. The guise he took was that of someone who desperately needed rest and seclusion. Those journeys among the rocks and the gravel and cacti took a lot out of a troll. He needed alone time, and not the alone time that lead to his biting of Karkat in places unmentionable. No. He needed alone time to unwind.

Granted, unwind meant work, and work meant transcribing his newly found understanding of the landscape into a map.

The rock was easily twenty feet long and eight feet high. The beast was something miraculously flat and smooth for the most part. It stretched in an odd diagonal from the river, as if carved by some prehistoric flood when the waters were more abundant and all the more violent. Kankri had no time to contemplate that.

Right now he was smearing his darkest paint, pure powdered charcoal, along the snaking curve that was his cartographic river. The thing had no name of course, the members of camp all referred to it as nothing more than The River. Kankri had to formalize this of course .Capital letters in a big script written crudely along the curve, done in his reddish paint made from mashed fig, some charcoal and peculiar red sandstone.

He finished within a moment. Signless hadn’t allowed their latest journey to stretch beyond their allotted five days away from camp. Kankri had thrown a fit, of course, and thinking back on it, he knew it was stupid. They were low on supplies then and Karkat had sunburned and blistered too much. Grumbling and mumbling to himself, he wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, handmade paints still smeared on his fingertips.

He wanted out. He wanted out of this cloud of uncertainty and forgetfulness. He wanted out of this desert and away from Signless whenever he’d pull his hands away from Karkat just as things were getting good. He wanted out, away, and gone. A map could help.

A map could always help.

Stepping back, Kankri wiped some of his leftover paint, dark and rough and a little shiny with the water, spit, and juice of figs he had used to make it wet, from his hands. It smeared. It always smeared. Grumbling and mumbling, he stepped back a little further from his rocks, his map, and nodded.

“This will simply have to do for now.”

He bounded away and into the bushes as he heard Dualscar and Dolorosa call out over the desert for everyone to gather for dinner. He made it to the river to wash away the grim and the gross from his hands before returning. He was safe for now. He was still a secret mapmaker. He didn’t have to let anyone know about his work or his plans.

***

Dinner was, as usual, some mix of figs, boar, and fish. It was tiresome and dull and in need of the same salt that seemed to drip off their brow when the sun was too damned hot. Kankri sat next to Karkat, Signless looming behind them, an urge to walk away from the despicable meal and the despicable company building in Kankri. He didn’t act on it. He never really would.

He knew that much about himself. That’s all he had: an assurance that he wouldn’t just run off without these two fools, and his name. There. That was all Kankri really knew about himself. Gnawing on a piece of boar, he huffed, knowing that it was all so pathetic. Pathetic and ridiculous. That’s all he knew about himself.

He was so out of focus he almost didn’t register Karkat leaning in, whispering something about a taboo tryst for later, something about teeth and sweat and hands going where they shouldn’t. Almost. Kankri turned and squinted at Karkat, his… whatever they were to each other. Was it romantic? Kankri didn’t know.

All he knew was the way up river and where to go if one was looking for where there weren’t other people. All Kankri knew were pathetic things and it was the most infuriating thing imaginable. Knowledge was power, or at least that was what Dualscar had said the one time he tried to teach Signless how to fish.

If that were the case, Kankri knew he was powerless.


	27. A Favor With a Side Order of Admission

“I don’t know what you want me to do,” Karkat spat, turning his back to Kankri, wading out into the river a few more steps. “You think I have some sort of leash on Signless? Well, I don’t. Anything that gave you that idea is a load of bullshit.”

Kankri rolled his eyes. “Well it’s my observations that gave me the idea.”

“I guess you need to wash your eyes out then, because it’s still a heaping load of bullshit.” Karkat dove into the water, disappearing for a quiet moment as Kankri’s face flushed a shade deeper in agitation. He reappeared soon enough, wiping at his face, trying to break through that day’s layer of desert induced grime.

“I guess you need to drop the front of cool assurance and _listen_ to me. I need you to talk Signless into a longer expedition tomorrow,” Kankri said. “If you’re too damned afraid to ask him, fine, I’ll do it myself and you can bet your useless ass that I’ll make sure you sit here and rot with the rest of these complacent fools. Some of us, myself most noticeably, want to figure out exactly how a bunch of amnesiacs wound up in this forsaken hell of a desert. “

Karkat spun around and dragged his arm across the water, splashing Kankri as he sat on the rocks by the river side. There was a yelp and yelling, but Karkat silenced it all with a rough kiss and claws slipping under Kankri’s sweater to claw across his chest.

“You need to shut up,” Karkat said. “You know I want to figure out what’s happened just as much, if not more so that you. Stop with that guilt trip bullshit you love to harp on so much. I just think it’s stupid you expect me to be able to persuade Signless to do anything he doesn’t want to do.”

Kankri scoffed. “So you admit it, you’re just as useless as anyone else at camp.”

They were alone. Their hateful touches, kisses with more teeth than lip, their pinching and scratching and bites, they were all private and hidden away in this spot upriver. Dinner was a quiet thing, uneventful and flavorless. Dessert was better. Desert heat be damned, Kankri would press his body to Karkat’s, trying to find some solace in this odd charade of anger and hate and self-loathing projected outwards.

“Just do it,” Kankri spat, teeth dragging over Karkat’s bare shoulder.

“Don’t presume your sorry ass can tell me what to do.” Karkat solidified his point with a sharp smack and grope to Kankri’s thigh. There were some whines, some grunts, and more nipping kisses. They leaned back against the hot rocks, even as the sun was mingling with the horizon.

“Please…” Kankri let out in a slight whisper, his breath catching as Karkat did what he did best and rocked forward.

Karkat pursed his lips and pressed his forehead to Kankri’s. “Fine.”

***

Signless watched Kankri walk up the path to the river alone, late enough after the sun had set that he was worried and his pupils were wide enough in both the dark and in worry. He pursed his lips and paced over, grabbing the short boy by the shoulders.

“Do you know how late it is?” he asked. “Where’s Karkat? Please tell me you didn’t drown him.”

“I wish.” Kankri rolled his eyes yet again and shrugged Signless off. “He’s down by the river getting clean and fucking himself with a cactus. He wants to talk to you and everyone knows he would need to prepare properly.”

Pushing past Signless, Kankri stomped to the fireside, tossing down his wet sweater.

Rather than confront whatever storm brewed inside of Kankri, Signless sighed, gathered his wits, and took down the path. Darkness didn’t really bother him, he could see well enough, and the moon was up. He pulled his cloak tighter around his shoulders and pursed his lips. There was something afoot, and Kankri and Karkat were a part of it.

With all those detours on their expeditions out of camp to find the rumored ‘others’ and the odd times they’d disappear together, Signless knew there was something, _something hidden,_ going on. He hated it. These two boys _his_ boys, they were hiding something from him. He could feel it. The fact that these two little twerps, kids he had sworn to himself and to the others to protect were hiding in the dark…

Signless rubbed his temples.

He needed to bathe and all he could focus on were two brats with foul mouths and foul tempers. It wasn’t fair. Maybe that Summoner fellow wasn’t so unlucky being pulled away from his boys…

Signless slapped himself.

“No,” he muttered in the dark. “They’re a handful, but they’re… They’re mine.”

Reassurance. All he needed was reassurance. He reminded himself that he needed reminding that he loved those boys. The way they curled up by his sides at night, cloak draped over them, legs in awkward tangles. He wouldn’t have it any other way.

He had his reassurance. Two warm bodies when he went to sleep, that there was his reassurance.

Shakng off the odd self-loathing, Signless rubbed his face, palms roughing up the scruff along his jaw. He groaned some but nodded, a sudden brisk breeze snapping him to his senses. This was okay. Kankri was okay. Karkat was okay. Everything was okay.

Desert or not, chores or not, rumored strangers wandering the wilds or not, everything was okay. The river, a winding, slumbering beast, could be heard from where he was. Signless sighed and relegated himself to the reality that he probably needed to bathe. So be it. He unfasted the tied to his cloak and continued walking, the dark acting as more of a shroud to him than the ragged cloth.

It was been beaten by the heat and the sun and the sand. Even here in the groves of fig trees and pomegranate bushes and the brush, shaded from the harshness of the golden hell-orb, he was darker, almost cast-iron grey, and his cloak was faded. It was odd to say the least.

The water was ahead. The grime could be shed like his faded cloak. He didn’t have to dwell on the mishmash of nonsense between his ears right now.

Stripping down to nothing, his dark skin and dark hair and dark silhouette a shadow in the deepening night, Signless waded out to the water, the cool rising to the fork in his legs. A shiver ran down his body, muscles clenching, breath hitching, body covered in gooseflesh. He sighed. The sound was low and lost on the breeze, but it was a clear moment of relief.

There was no worry in the water. There was no need to rush and think and figure things out. There was no cloud of confusion. There was no urge to run off into the sands searching for answers or the urge to yell at the idiocy of his fellow camp mates.

There was nothing but water. He had forgotten about Karkat.

A set of thin and silver arms wrapped around his waist from behind. Signless yelled. There was a flurry of splashes and a twisting of bodies and moments of utter chaos, but when it all settled, there was still a short troll with a downcast gaze latched to his waist.

Karkat was silent.

“You scared the ever living fuck out of me, Karkat.”

Karkat nodded. “I know. You need to be less excitable, you know?”

Signless pursed his lips and pried Karkat off of his front. Reaching down, he stayed quiet as he slipped his fingers under Karkat’s chin and lifted his face, his gaze, to meet his own. “You’ve been crying.”

“Shut up. That’s really none of your business.”

“It is,” Signless said. “I told you kid, I’ve told you time and time again, I’m here for you.” Signless squatted in the water, his body sinking to his chest, Karkat now on eyes level with him. “I want you to talk to me.”

Karkat stayed silent for a moment. The only sound now was the river. “I need to tell you something.”

“Alright.” Signless nodded slowly and remained clam, his expression still soft in the dark.

Karkat waited another moment, another several seconds of silence in the water. “Kankri wants us to go on a longer expedition. At least a week. And he wants us to go at night so there’s less of a chance that we’ll burn. I told him it was dumb to ask, but I told him I would.”

Signless blinked and nodded. “I take it that’s not everything. You wouldn’t usually relay a message for Kankri. And something like this wouldn’t upset you like this.” He wiped Karkat’s cheek with his thumb, discarding a solitary tear.

“There’s more,” Karkat said.

“Alright,” Signless said, smiling ever so faintly. “Go on.”

Karkat inhaled and composed himself, a little of his usual fire coming back to life. “I told the fucker that I’d only ask you if I could tell you something important. Something we’ve been keeping secret from everyone.”

“Oh?” Signless arched an eyebrow and pet Karkat’s cheek, rough skin surprisingly soft and careful. “What’s going on?”

“I hate him.”

Signless snorted and kissed Karkat’s forehead. “I know that you idiot. Everyone knows that.” Signless stood, body rising from the water, shiny in the starlight.

“No,” Karkat said, face flushed hot, fists clenching. “You don’t understand.”

Signless pursed his lips and wiped some of the water off his lower stomach. “What’s that supposed to mean.

Karkat stepped forward and pressed his face to Signless’s abdomen, lips bristling against the smattering of hair there. He sank a little lower and kissed Singless’s flesh. “Signless, I hate Kankri the same way I love you.”


	28. Speaking In Confidence

It was a new kind of heat, different than the desert and its sun and its sand, a ferocious thing that stuck to the inside of his chest like a parasite. Was it envy, a burning green fire? Was it fear? Signless shook his head and stared at the campfire, chalking all of it up to the flame in front of him. He was alright. There was no oddity in the crevices between his ribs.

Karkat and Kankri weren’t up to anything nefarious. Signless was sure of that much.

Everything else is what he was unsure of. Rubbing his face thoughts still swirling, he sighed and looked over the others, all of them sleeping, Darkleer back from one of his babysitting trips to Mindfang and Summoner’s camp. He had curled his massive frame around Horuss and Equius, shielding them from the light night breeze. Signless knew he should do the same for Karkat and Kankri. He should. He knew he should. He just could not for the life of him bring himself to do it.

He looked over to them, under the fruitless fig tree with it labyrinth of branches arching overhead, and sighed. They hated each other. They hated each other in an intimate way and Signless had no idea how to process that. His mind was nothing but a whirlwind of confusion and smoke now.

Intimate hate… It made his head and his heart and his hands hurt.

He looked down. His fingers were curled into fists; the nails dug into his palms, knuckles white even against the low orange light of the campfire.

“You know you should get your sleep,” Dualscar called out, padding up the path to the river. “You were the one to convince all of us that you and your boys could handle a week-long trip out into the wild. Now you gotta prove it and get your damned rest.”

His words trailed out in that wavering accent, the sound filling the air around the fire and under the branches. Signless stared at him, the sleek and taught muscles of his swimmer’s body glistening with river water under the faint moon and the orange of the fire. He had been fishing. Signless pursed his lips and watched Dualscar move, a little ensnared in the motions, the way the light curved over his shiny skin.

Dualscar was nude, of course, as he always complained about waiting for his clothes to dry and how swimming with his bare flesh slipping through water felt _right._ Signless knew there was an immodest way in his gaze, the way his pupils blew out in the dark to take in the sight. He knew that might be a way Kankri looked at Karkat.

He shoved that thought away. Signless didn’t hate Dualscar.

Dualscar brought fish and some briny wisdom that always felt like a hybrid of chiding and encouragement. Dualscar also brought a wiry set of muscles down into a crouching position in front of Signless. He smirked in the low light and stared at Signless.

“See something you like?” He asked it so casually, as if taunting Signless about his intimate appetite was the topic de jour.

“I…” Signless frowned and rubbed his eyes with the heels of his palms. “Can we not do this tonight Cronus? Can’t you just get dressed? Please?”

Dualscar scoffed. “I ain’t getting nothing wet tonight. All I need is Dolorosa complaining about wrinkles and musty shirts and whatnot. Nah. I’m gonna dry off and then you’re gonna tell me what’s up. Got it?”

Singless bit his lip and nodded. Dualscar stood and took his perch next to Signless on a large and flat rock near the fire. He closed his eyes slowly and the water warmed near the flame and he started to dry. A small almost animalistic noise, like a chirp or a purr, escaped him. His gills fluttered. He and Signless, though starting on an odd footing, had come to an understanding: They were adults and they took care of the kids. They needed to work with each other on that. Having that out in the open, they were friends, yes, but they were also something more secretive…

Signless pinched the bridge of his nose. He was tired of secrets. He was sick of them. He was grumbling something incoherent now and it caught Dualscar’s attention. His fin fluttered and he cocked his head to the side, a smile on his lips.

“Something’s up…” Dualscar murmured, a singsong note in his throat.

Signless glared at him. “If you say it’s your dick I’m going to go to bed.”

“Besides that…”

Signless stood up in a flash, his red face clear even in the night, his cloak fluttering about him. Dualscar stood too, hands up in a defensive manner, his tongue letting out a barrage of shushes and soothing notes. “Relax kid… it was a joke.”

“And a piss poor one at that.” Signless crossed his arms. “I’m not even going to look, you got it? If it’s out, put it away.”

Dualscar pursed his lips and waited a moment. Seconds ticked by. “There. Fixed. Now sit your bony butt down on that log and tell me what the hell is going on.”

Signless huffed and tapped his foot for a moment. He glanced Dualscar up and down, the shine of the water on his body diminished some by the heat. Signless offered out an upturned palm and beckoned the other man closer. “Walk with me?”

Dualscar nodded. “Of course.”

It took them a few minutes in the dark before Signless let out a shuddering sigh and turned to Dualscar. He pressed his face to the damp troll’s chest and shook, hands scrambling at those cool and bare hips. There were a few odd moments of shaky breaths and wet eyes and an odd pat from Dualscar. Signless looked up and composed himself.

“Kankri and Karkat are driving me insane.”

Dualscar let out a deep sigh and slumped some. “Oh thank God I thought this was serious.”

Signless pursed his lips and slapped Dualscar’s chest, palm falling flat with a loud slap against the padded muscle. “This _is_ serious.”

Dualscar let out a hissing laugh, the sting on his chest mingling with the relief he was still being washed in from Signless’s admission. He thought this would be more dire. More… _more._

“Listen to me… I have an issue with the two of them. And it’s serious. At least… I think it is. I’m sure it is. It _has_ to be something serious,” Singless said, turning, looking down, his brows knit together in a flurry of confused lines. Amnesia didn’t help these things he was facing. These things he was feeling were a mess on their own but with perpetual uncertainty? It was hell.

Dualscar pursed his lips and put a hand to Singless’s cheek, guiding his gaze back up to meet his own. “Tell me what the hell has got you like this, kid. It’s gotta be something big. Are you okay?”

“No.”

Dualscar paused for a moment, wondering if he really wanted to wade into this. It could be so much easier if he weren’t so damned attached to the scrawny runt of an adult. “What’s going on?”

“Karkat and Kankri.” The words came out with a sudden thump on the night air, as if they were solid and weighty. “They’re… up to things. Intimate things actually, and I don’t know if it’s an okay thing or not.”

Dualscar blinked, at a loss for words now. He looked Signless over and pursed his lips, trying to think, trying to sort through everything swirling around in his head. He nodded once, a gruff little gesture, and clapped Signless on the shoulder.

“I have something you might want to see.” Dualscar was smiling now and Signless could see those sharp teeth glint in the low light. “It might clear this all up. Come on,” he said, taking Signless’s hand in his and tugging him back towards camp.

“Wait, what?” Singless huffed and dragged his feet along, not really wanting to rush back to camp so soon. There was a circle of sleeping somebodies there and he didn’t want to face that right now. “Dualscar…”

“Shut up and follow the leader. Come on.”


	29. Writings

It was a notebook.

Dualscar, focused on stealth and secrecy, hunched over Cronus’s sprawled out and sleeping form, slipped a worn notebook from under his bundled up cape. In the dark of the desert night it looked like nothing more than a smooth stone, a lifeless little bundle. Over by the fire however, Signless held it close and stared with intrigue.

This wasn’t theirs. This was one of those vile cerulean girls’ possessions.

“How’d you…?”

“Eridan pilfered it from one of those nasty creatures. He passed it to Darkleer to pass to me the last time he went to check on Summoner and Mindfang.” Dualscar managed a shrug. “It’s not _all_ that special. There’s weird spots throughout it where the ink is smudged and scattered and none of the words can be made out. But there’s some stuff in here that might help you out.”

Dualscar took the journal from Signless, hands surprising gentle. Signless bit his lips as he undid the small clasp and tilted the book towards the fire to better get a view of the pages. A glittering M symbol made itself known in the orange light.

“I’ve pieced together some info but mostly its stories and junk. This one might interest you though,” Dualscar said before clearing his throat, careful not to rouse anyone else in camp. “‘I’ve found Vriska and Eridan’s tale concerning their kismesitude most intriguing, if not a slight bit disturbing. For instance, their tales of naval escapades wherein they dueled each other over slaughter and plunder and slaves, it captivates ones attention up until the point where one realizes, had their relationship lasted much longer, if they had matured into adults, there would have been bitings and clawings and maulings of the sexual kind.’”

Dualscar made a face and shuddered, Signless frowning in disgust all the while.

“‘Had it not been for the fact I looked back at Cronus and known in another life that we, my dear Gods I might take up Kurloz’s offer on an education of the Messiahs for thinking this, that we were so intimate and so pitched and so… I really must stop. I love telling stories, but to hate Cronus in that way? It makes my skin crawl. I have standards, even if no one really thinks I’m cool enough to have them.’”

Signless blinked as he and Dualscar stopped, silent, and stared into the fire.

“So…” Signless said, wringing his hands. “Apparently…? What? What is all this supposed to mean?”

“Well for one,” Dualscar said, shaking his head to disperse the thoughts. “One: apparently hating someone can be intimate and sexual? I think. And another thing… This girl is one longwinded trollop. I mean… look at all of this.”

Dualscar flipped through the pages, some indeed blank save for sparse dots of ink and smudges, but others, so many of them were cluttered with compact writing and notes in the margin. Signless furrowed his brow.

“Damn.”

“Right?” Dualscar asked, closing the book and setting it in his lap. “I think what I’ll do is while you and your boys are out, I’ll comb through it and see what else I can pick apart. It might be interesting, despite these blank parts.”

Dualscar shrugged and Signless looked up at him. Leaning over, he kissed him on the cheek and then, in the silence and dark of the midnight hour, went to curl around his two boys. Sleep was necessary. Sleep was wanted. Sleep…

***

The morning came with a low rolling fog, slightly chill, slightly damp, and thick enough to obscure the trees in a silvery light. Kankri huffed as he pushed past the phantom brush ahead of him, leading Karkat and Signless off towards the river.

“Up here a ways more… I think it should be fine and even you blind fools ought to be able to see it despite the fog.” Kankri’s voice drifted for a moment, sounding odd and grating in the stillness of the dawn hour.

“What the hell are you even dragging us off this way for anyway? Huh?” Karkat asked, grumpy in his drowsiness. “We have shit to get ready before we go. Stop wasting time.”

“I’m not wasting any time whatsoever.” Kankri crawled up over some large rocks and beckoned the other two to follow. Karkat grumbled and was about to protest when Signless clasped a hand on his shoulder.

“Relax. Let’s see what he’s doing first.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a short chapter, I know. And I apologize. I'm having some serious computer issues and have found it hard to get any work done. More updates will come, however. 
> 
> Please see [my tumblr](robogreaser.tumblr.com) for more info concerning commissions and computer updates.


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